Show a Little Faith
by MoonstoneAndStarDust
Summary: That's what it all came down to; having faith. Living a relatively carefree life thanks to the many sacrifices of their parents, the generation of the Golden Age learns how to have faith in their world, each other, and themselves as they muddle their way through loss, love and life. Not to mention teenage hormones. (Eventually includes the whole Weasley/Potter brood and many OCs)
1. Hey, that's me and I want you only

In all honesty, she was frustrated by the turn things had taken. It's not as if she'd asked to feel this way. She was fairly certain it wasn't something she'd wanted to happen at all. But there she was, developing the one thing that could single handedly destroy a friendship.

Feelings.

They were invading her life and not caring about the destruction they might leave in their wake.

 _This couldn't possibly turn out well_.

Those words had become her mantra. She couldn't see any good results coming from this. The emotions, feelings, desires, whatever name you wanted to give to the swooping of her stomach and the burning of her cheeks these days, could only lead to trouble.

He was her cousin's best friend. To make things even more complicated, he had also become one of hers. And goodness knows these things only go one of two ways, one of which would be particularly painful. The last thing she wanted was to lose him as a friend, but denying what she was feeling was becoming increasingly difficult. Still, she couldn't see this turning out full of sunshine and daisies and rainbows. She wasn't even sure if that was what she wanted. It would just be asking for life to complicate itself even more than it already had.

First, there was their best friend to consider. Sure, they were close with Erin as well, Rose more so than Scorpius, but she and Al were cousins and Scorpius was his best friend. It was different. She didn't want to isolate him or make him feel unwanted. And would he even approve? She cared too much about his opinion to not let that thought cross her mind.

And then there was the rest of the family to think about. Never in their wildest dreams had they even considered something like this happening, or so Rose assumed. It was strange enough when she and Al first became friends with him, let alone the two of them becoming something more.

But she was getting ahead of herself with these musings. Before anyone else ever accepted them, there would have to be a them. And he had given no sign that she was something he wanted. She knew now that there were ways she wanted him, no use denying it anymore, but she was terrified of destroying anything and everything else that they had.

These thoughts that had grown from occasional to constant over the course of the year were doing nothing to help her study habits. Final exams were only a week away, and even though she had another year before her N.E.W.T.s, she still wanted to finish the year strong. Of course, it didn't help that her study habits usually included his presence. She supposed she could always go back to her dorm and study on her own, but she would most likely end up just sitting there, openly daydreaming rather than trying to focus with him in her presence. Or at least pretending to.

If only she had kept her distance like her father had suggested. " _Don't get too friendly with him, Rosie…"_ If only. But she hadn't wanted to lose her friendship with Albus, and when he was sorted into Slytherin along with Scorpius, Rose felt like she had no choice but to accept Scorpius as Albus had, although somewhat begrudgingly.

They still didn't talk to each other much the first few years or so. They didn't really hit it off until fourth year when they were partnered together for an Arithmancy project. That's how the studying together and the actually having a friendship came to be. Stilted conversations in the library eventually led to a sense of camaraderie over their shared love for the topic, and they soon found themselves distracted by topics unrelated to their studies. They had even been kicked out of the library on more than one occasion for disturbing the peace.

When fifth year rolled around, well, it kind of just naturally continued. Being two of the top students in their year, if not _the_ top two, was part of the reason they were drawn to each other in the first place. They challenged each other to be better. They started studying for O.W.L.s together constantly by the end of fifth year. He had come back the beginning of sixth year the same as ever, but more sure of himself. More confident. He wasn't exactly shy before, but he had a nervous quality about him. Like he constantly felt that he was being measured by the people around him. Especially the ones who only saw him for his name. But sixth year brought a change, and she liked to think that their friendship had something to do with it.

And she couldn't deny that his confidence had made him more attractive than his blond hair, lean figure, and piercing blue-gray eyes already did. It wasn't the cocky type of confidence that would have driven her mad, although that popped out on the occasion that he bested her in anything. It was more the humble kind that made you want to know him more, maybe figure out if he was hiding something. It gave him a sense of mystery that the girls couldn't help but notice. He wasn't trying to impress anyone, he had just accepted who he was and was thankful for the friendships he had nurtured with Rose, Albus, and the rest of their family and friends. And after the past two years, she now considered him one of her best friends. She and Albus and Erin had grown up together so they would always be close, but her friendship with Scorpius had blossomed into something completely unexpected, and she cherished it more than she thought she would.

And it was more than just studying together. Half the time, she and Erin found themselves sitting at the Slytherin table for meals and hanging out with Albus and Scorpius in the joint common room, and when they weren't at their table, the boys were at the Gryffindor one. They spent time wandering around the grounds on nice days and spent time together during the holidays. She even missed him when he wasn't around.

This had been her first sign of trouble. Then, during Christmas that year, she started thinking about him in ways she hadn't let herself before. Wishing he would catch her under the mistletoe, hoping for a moment alone where they could just be and enjoy each other's company and who knows where that might lead. Now, here they were a few months later, entrenched in exam season and hardly leaving the library except for meals, class, and sleep. And she couldn't keep her mind off him. Her eyes were having trouble behaving as well. His movements captivated her. The way he occasionally tapped his quill on the table and ran his hand through his hair when he was contemplating a difficult piece of homework. The way his mouth absentmindedly moved as he read through what he'd just written to make sure it was correct. The way his eyes twinkled when he was onto something. His smooth deep voice as he said her name over and over and…

Wait, was he saying her name?

"Rose?"

Shite. How long had she been spacing out on him?

"Yeah?" she said in a barely there whisper, catching her breath after being caught lost in her thoughts of him.

"I was just wondering if you'd gotten to question eleven yet, but your mind is clearly elsewhere?" he responded with a twitch of his lips and a twinkle in his eye. She blushed slightly as she realized he had noticed her spacing out. Had he seen her looking at him?

"Yes, I have. Why?" she responded as she regained her composure. Thankfully, she had started her homework before he'd arrived in the library and was able to get ahead.

"Oh," he said, choosing to ignore her slightly flustered state. "I'm just not sure what's going on with question eleven. It's not in my notes, and I can't seem to find it anywhere in the text."

She rolled her eyes and chuckled slightly at him. "That's because you and Patrick Allen wouldn't stop playing tic-tac-toe during class the day we covered this portion."

She shot a bemused smile at his disgruntled yet slightly amused face.

"Well you would've done the same if you sat next to him in Arithmancy. That Ravenclaw may be smart, but he has the attention span of a goldfish. Not to mention very convincing and slightly manipulative when he wants to be."

Rose laughed at his look of annoyance but still felt slightly bad for him.

"Here," she said as she moved around the table to sit next to him. She slid her notes toward him and started explaining the topic he'd missed.

"Why can't you just show me your work?" he asked with a mischievous smile. She shook her head as he started to reach across the table for her completed work. Chuckling, she reached forward and dragged his arm back across the table. The look on his face was so disappointed she almost felt guilty, but not enough to compromise on her scruples. Besides, she wasn't about to complain about having to touch him.

"Why?" he almost whined at her.

"Scorpius," she said insistently, still gripping his arm, "the point of a study guide is to help you learn and retain information. How will you do that if you just copy the work that someone else has already completed?" She gave him a pointed look, and he relented.

"Fine," he said with a sigh, "but you're helping me."

She rolled her eyes but smiled as she released his arm and they got back to her notes. It was a little while later that she noticed he had shifted closer. Not only that, but his arm had somehow made its way onto the back of her chair. She tried not to think too much of it or let it distract her, but the way his fingers started tapping a light rhythm on the back of her chair demanded her attention. It made his proximity that much more obvious to her, and she tried to shake herself out of it. Her thoughts were starting to go to that place again, and this was not the time for those musings to return.

"So, having completed the first three steps, you just divide the solution to step two by the solution to step three, and that should be your answer."

He was silent for a moment, pursing his lips as he looked through his previous answers. Once the light bulb clicked in his head, she could see it written all over his face.

"Yes, of course!" he said with realization, and then began to talk through the process with Rose. By the time he got to the end, she was grinning at him in an amused way as he flung his quill on the table with a cocky smirk and leaned back in his chair.

"There, done. Want to go for a walk or a fly or something? It's awfully stuffy in here after a while." He looked at her expectantly and she raised her eyebrows, looking between him and their incomplete study guides pointedly.

"Umm… you do realize this is a fifty question study guide? And we've barely made a dent?"

He looked back at the study guide and stacks of books scattered across the table for a solid ten seconds before throwing his head and arms down on the table and groaning in frustration. She felt slightly disappointed that his arm was no longer around her chair, but her disappointment was brief as he sat back up with an exasperated sigh and placed his arm back in its previous position.

"Why must we study so much this year? It's not like it's that important. This is more of a filler year, really. No O.W.L.s, no N.E.W.T.s. Just regular old exams."

She looked at him incredulously. "Yes, but we can still fail out if we don't perform well."

She looked at him slightly concerned as he started glancing around the room and bouncing his legs in an agitated manner.

"What's gotten into you?" she asked. "You're usually more than happy to spend time studying. I thought you liked Arithmancy?"

"I do," he responded with a moderate amount of conviction. "I do, it's just…" He paused as if to gather his thoughts. "It's just that I'm realizing that we only have a year left here. And I want to make the most of it. And somehow spending time constantly in the library doesn't seem to fit the bill."

She smiled softly and turned in her chair to face him. "I know," she said with a sigh. "It's like this combined sense of nostalgia and urgency. You can't help but think back on all the wonderful memories, but you're worried you haven't made enough yet. The ones that will really matter in the end. So you think you have to take every moment and make it an important one or else you might regret it."

As she spoke she kept eye contact with him, hoping she didn't sound too obvious. She wanted to make her moments with him last and count for something. As much as she thought she should study, she couldn't help but want to take him up on his offer. Who knows what could happen as they wandered around in secluded areas of the grounds. Or what would happen as they basked in the adrenaline rush after a fly. He held her gaze, and a crease appeared between his brows as she spoke. As if he were really taking in what she said and contemplating it.

He paused after she finished and, after what felt like an eternity to her, said, "Yeah. I couldn't have put it better myself."

She smiled at him and he returned it before turning serious again, almost as if stealing himself for something.

"Rose?" he asked. She just looked at him expectantly. He seemed nervous so she placed what she hoped was an encouraging hand on his arm that rested on the table as he glanced away. Her contact seemed to give him strength, and he looked back at her with confidence and began again.

"Rose, I-"

"It's too bloody hot to spend an hour in a greenhouse."

They both jumped slightly as a bag was thrown onto their table and a chair across from them was roughly pulled out and turned around as their intruder unceremoniously plopped down and straddled it.

"Honestly, there should be rules about these things. It's nearing on abuse."

"Really, Al? You said the same thing in the dead of winter when you complained that your bits had nearly been frozen off. Can you ever be happy?" his dorm mate asked him with a resigned look. Al looked affronted.

"Besides," Rose interjected, "the greenhouse is a temperature regulated environment. It's the same no matter the season."

Al rolled his eyes at his cousin's knowledgeable response.

"Yes, well, I more meant the trek to and from. It's stifling in these robes. I bloody stink."

"You're not wrong there," said a new voice as a fourth person joined their party and begrudgingly sat down next to an admittedly smelly Albus, who brightened at her entrance.

"Erin, can you please talk to your dad about maybe not requiring robes for Herbology? Or at least placing a cooling charm on the path to and from the castle?"

Erin shook her head at Al, her shoulder length dirty blond waves starting to fall out of her plait.

"You know I have a rule about using my position as a faculty member's child. You never ask, and I never have to say no. Besides, he's your godfather. Ask him yourself."

Al pouted and rested his chin on his hands that lay across the back of his chair and returned his attention to his two other best friends.

"Why did you come in behind Al?" Rose asked, "Did he race ahead to get out of the heat? No wonder you're sweating like a pig," she threw at her cousin in a teasing manner.

Al gave her a scathing look but self consciously gave himself a once over as Erin and Scorpius laughed at his expense.

"No," Erin responded, still slightly chuckling. "I had to talk to dad about plans for going home after exams. Mum is still visiting with Great-Gran, who's still not doing so well. Dad, Ethan, and I are leaving to be with her as soon as we're finished with exams."

The mood immediately became more somber at her words. Rose even completely forgot about her earlier moment with Scorpius for a while. Al reached out and put a comforting hand on Erin's shoulder. She looked at him gratefully for a moment before breaking the tension by throwing it off and making a jab at his hygiene.

"Phew, you really do stink. Sure you didn't have a roll in the manure before heading up here?"

They all laughed, and even Albus gave a slight grin after rolling his eyes at her.

"Fine, I can take a hint. Or three. I'll see you guys at dinner. I'm due for a shower. Scorp? Heading back to the common room?"

Scorpius seemed hesitant for a moment but finally relented and rose to collect his things and join his dormmate.

"See you guys later," he said as he left, but not before sending another quick smile Rose's way. She sent a shy one back as he sauntered out after his roommate, giving him a playful shove as he again mocked him due to his stench.

As soon as they were gone, Rose rested her head on the table and groaned, immediately gaining the attention of her closest girl friend.

Erin raised her eyebrows at Rose as she made unintelligent sounds.

"Pardon?" Erin asked with an inquisitive look on her face.

Rose lifted her head slightly to look at her friend. She considered confiding in her for a moment, but then thought better of it and sat back in her chair with a sigh. "Nothing. Just all this studying. I think it's getting to me."

Erin still looked slightly skeptical. "Okay…" she said, somewhat hesitant to believe her friend. "Is that what you and Scorp were up to before Al interrupted?"

Rose turned slightly pink, remembering the somewhat charged moment between them before her cousin barged in.

"Oh...Erm...yeah, we were study."

She tried to make herself look busy by focusing on her study guide, but Erin wasn't fooled by her attempt to sound nonchalant.

"Wait," she said as realization started to dawn on her. "Something happened, didn't it? Something happened between you two, or was about to, and your prat of a cousin interrupted, didn't he?"

Rose eyes bugged out at the intensity with which her friend spoke these words, not to mention the accuracy of them, but she was still determined to remain in denial. She wasn't even sure if something had happened.

"What? No, why would you think something like that?"

"Come on, Rose," said Erin with an eye roll, "I see how you zone out on him sometimes. It's not like he doesn't do the same."

"Please," said Rose with more conviction than she felt, "we're just friends. Nothing is happening.

Please don't turn this into something it isn't."

They were now leaning towards each other over the table and talking with such intensity, that they forgot for a moment that they were in the library as Erin made to rebuttal.

"Rose, you know you can - "

"Oh, erm, hi. Sorry I'm interrupting."

Rose and Erin looked up to see that they had drawn attention to themselves.

"Hey, Bobby," Rose greeted, thankful for the distraction. "What's up?"

He sent her an apologetic smile before explaining his presence.

"Sorry to bother you, it's only Madam Pince has been complaining about the noise for a while. She was about to barge over herself before I volunteered. I knew it was you guys and I'd rather you not get in trouble, but, well, I'd rather not lose my job either…"

"No problem, Bobby, really. You're just doing your job," said Rose as she began to hastily pack up her books and notes that were scattered across the table. "We were about to head to dinner anyway."

"Ok, great," he said with a relieved smile. "Do me a favor? If you see your brother, don't mention I'm on duty tonight. Last time he took that as an invitation to pull a prank in here, and I'm not too keen on it happening again. I already told Lily to be on the lookout but just in case."

Rose chuckled but agreed to his request as she hurried out of the library, hoping to dodge any further questioning from her friend, who was still glaring daggers at her. Erin turned her glare to Bobby as she got up to follow Rose.

"Thanks a lot for that," she said in a rather harsher tone than necessary, causing the sandy haired fourteen-year-old to look slightly taken aback as she strode out of the library to catch up with her best friend.

Thankfully, Rose hadn't gone too far, and Erin was able to catch her before she got to the Great Hall as she hurried behind her, calling her name and refusing to be ignored.

"Rose," she said one more time as they neared the hall that was packed full of people. "Please, just stop and listen to me for a second."

Rose slowed to a stop just outside the Great Hall and faced her friend with a slightly hesitant look on her face. Erin sighed and gently gripped her upper arms.

"I just wanted you to know," she began with a gentle and understanding look on her face, "that you can trust me. If there's something going on there or if you're just filled with uncertainty and need someone to talk to, I'm here, and I will do my best to understand. In fact, I probably understand more than you think I do."

She spoke with such sincerity that Rose considered letting everything out right then and there, especially if it meant Erin would open up to her in return. She was unnerved by how accurately she had perceived the reason for her earlier flustered state, and her interest had been piqued by her last comment, but she restrained herself and gave her friend a grateful smile.

"Thanks, Erin, that means a lot and I do appreciate it. But not yet. Trust me, when I need to talk about it, if there is in fact anything to talk about, you'll be the first on my list."

Erin looked satisfied with this response and slung an arm around her best friend to lead her into the Great Hall.

"Come on," she said with a spring in her step, "let's go tease that little cousin of yours about our dear friend Bobby Finnegan. That always gives me a laugh."

Rose chuckled along with her best friend as they made their way to join the Gryffindor table.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Greetings dear readers! Here we have my first ever Fanfic. Wow.  
** **This is only the first chapter and I have a few more written and a lot of plot points thought out, but it is far from completed. Not sure yet how often I plan on updating but I'll try not to keep you waiting. I think I like what I have so far, but I'd love some feedback!**

 **As a little sneak peek of what to expect, I am a big believer in happy endings but also of working hard to get there. You will see a lot of joyful moments but don't worry! There are difficult times ahead as well. I'm big on character development and letting them do the story writing for me, which means some of the things I have planned might change as the characters do. Who knows! Happy reading and reviewing :)**


	2. We might be laughing a bit too loud

As Rose and Erin drew near to the Gryffindor table, they started to make out a rather heated argument between Rose's brother and cousin.

"I'm serious, Lily," Hugo was saying as he pointed his fork at her, "there's no way it'll happen this year. In case you forgot, we men get stronger and faster each year, while you women stay the same after you turn fourteen."

Lily looked affronted as Rose and Erin joined the table, sitting next to her and across from Hugo and Lucy, who had joined her cousins from the Hufflepuff table and was continuing to eat with her nose in a book while expertly ignoring them.

"Well I'll have you know that while you may be 'stronger' and 'faster' as you claim," Lily responded with disdain, "we do have something called feminine intuition on our side."

She shot him a smirk as the rest of the girls, even Lucy, had looks of agreement on their faces at this statement. Hugo just stared at them with an incredulous look on his face.

"What the bloody hell has that got to do with anything related to Quidditch?"

Lily rolled her eyes before responding in a condescending voice.

"Well, you see, us fairer sex know how to not only work together, but anticipate each other's moves. You males are too caught up in your own self importance to spare the others barely more than a thought as you try to hold up your ego along with your giant heads atop your brooms."

Rose and Erin gave verbal assent to this statement as Lucy nodded along and Lily looked smug at the shocked and slightly hurt look on his face. He regained his composer a second later and couldn't help but get one more word in.

"Well I don't see how that beats muscle, speed, and raw talent."

Lily scoffed, tucking her chin length red hair behind her ear. "What, you mean brains, teamwork, and our own helping dose of raw talent?"

Hugo rolled his eyes and quickly fought back. "That may be, but are you forgetting that we have an actual professional Quidditch player on our team this year?"

"Oh please," Lily said with a roll of her eyes. "James spends all his time goofing off with Fred and showing off for Violet. He's hardly an advantage."

Hugo seemed to realize he was fighting a losing battle, or at least one where no agreement could be reached, and backed off as was his custom in these types of confrontations with Lily. He had learned the hard way that pushing her too far would only lead to a well placed hex.

"Well I guess we'll just have to wait and see in a month's time, then?" he said, maintaining a sense of pride in his voice.

"I guess we will," replied Lily with a smug look, seeming pleased with having got the last word.

Hugo rolled his eyes at her and continued eating.

"I hate that James and Fred are gone," he said through a mouth full of food. "Two less blokes to help me defend our honor. Where are Louis and Bobby, anyway? And your brother, for that matter." He addressed this last statement to Erin.

"I'm not my brother's keeper," she said indignantly. "But it just so happens that he has some Head Boy duty or another to attend to," she finished, seemingly disappointed in herself that she actually knew why her brother wasn't at dinner.

"Well, I'm pretty sure Lou has forgotten it's dinner time and is still studying for O.W.L.s somewhere, and Bobby said something earlier about meeting up with Neville to ask him something about homework," said Lily.

Hugo seemed to accept this answer and went back to his dinner as Charlotte Bray joined them from the Hufflepuff table.

"Are you lot done arguing?" she asked as she sat next to Hugo, who rolled his eyes.

"Are you that afraid of confrontation that you waited till we were done before you joined us?"

"Yes," said the Hufflepuff very matter-of-factly, loading up her plate with desserts and flipping her long black hair over her shoulders. "It's not pleasing to consume one's food when there's pointless bickering going on."

"Pointless?" said Hugo in outrage. "I'll have you know that Quidditch is far from pointless."

As she started in on her desserts, she responded as calm as ever.

"Well, yes, but as to who will win in the Annual Summer Manor Match? There's no question that we will throttle you as usual."

Hugo dropped his fork as his mouth hung open and all the other girls laughed at his expense. Even Lucy spared him a slight smile. Hugo tore his eyes away from Charlotte just in time to spot what he hoped would be his saving grace entering the great hall.

"Finally!" he exclaimed as Scorpius and Albus approached the Gryffindor table, the latter with wet hair and both changed into Muggle attire to welcome in the weekend. "I've had to put up with nothing but them talking shit about how they're going to throttle us in the match this summer, and it's grating on my last nerve."

"Hugo", said Scorpius resignedly as he slid in next to Charlotte, "how many times have I told you that there's no point? It just gets you all worked up and in your head by the time the game comes, and then you end up letting in twice as many goals as your sister due to your sheer state of panic. We're likely to replace you with Wood this year. Who cares if he doesn't have dibs due to the family he was born into."

"Besides," Al said as he sat beside Erin, "you'll wind up making a stupid bet that you'll regret if we do lose."

Hugo looked astounded at his lack of support.

"How can you say that?" he said, his voice cracking slightly, showing his age. "I mean," he said, attempting to drop it an octave, "I can keep my cool. And I think we can win it this year."

"Yeah, mate, we all do, but wouldn't it be better if we took them by surprise? Don't give away all our secrets beforehand," said Scorpius in a fake whisper that had all the girls laughing as Al nodded with somber agreement.

"Oh, quit taking the mickey," Hugo grumbled, but went back to his dinner and dropped the subject for the rest of the meal.

As everyone continued to tuck in, they were eventually joined by Louis, who was dragged into the great hall by his best friend Caleb Wood as their sisters trailed behind them.

"If you want to make it through to next term, eat," said the brunette Gryffindor as he shoved his fellow fifth year into the seat next to Lily. Louis looked up at him imploringly.

"One week, Caleb. One week between us and something that will decide where our future takes us. I can't believe I've wasted so much time not studying this year. I barely have a second to lose. Plus, you can survive a week on a meal a day, right?" And he made to stand up, but Caleb had remained standing with his hand on his shoulder and easily pushed him back into his seat.

"He sounds like you," Scorpius shot at Rose with a smirk. She just shot him a scowl and didn't dignify his remark with a response.

"Maybe," Caleb said, taking the seat next to Louis, "but that will make you even less prepared for your exams. You'll have the shakes so bad from low blood sugar that you'll be likely to accidentally transfigure your examiner into a tea cozy. Besides, you're the best in our year. I don't understand why you're losing your head over this."

Louis looked like he still wanted to argue before their sisters sat across from them.

"Relax, twerp," said Dominique with a nonchalant attitude "You'll do fine. Besides, O.W.L.s have nothing on N.E.W.T.s. I can't wait for this week to be over. I feel like my head's about to explode."

"I second that," agreed Eva as she began tying her long brown hair up in a bun on the top of her head before she began her meal. It was a habit she'd picked up when she refused to cut it as a child but didn't want to drag it through her food. She had been afraid people would mistake her for a boy if she wore it short as she always seemed to be found with dirt on her tattered play clothes and scrapes on her knees. It didn't help that she looked very similar to her brother and they were often mistaken for twins despite their two-year age gap.

At the other end of the table, Rose had noticed something that caused her to roll her eyes.

"Malfoy?" she said to gain the attention of the boy sitting across from her.

"What's up, Weasley?" he replied with a cheeky grin.

She shot him a _don't be smart with me_ look, but he just continued to grin at her. "Have you forgotten something that you're required to do tonight?"

He thought for a moment before responding. "Nope, can't say that I have. Did we have plans? I can't imagine how I'd forget that."

She ignored his flirty attitude along with her best friend's stare as she watched them, looking back and forth between the pair.

"Come on, Scorp, it's Friday night? Rounds? You can't do rounds in Muggle clothes, you'll get in trouble for that."

Scorpius buried his face in his hands as she spoke before sighing and returning to his dinner.

"Alright, it might have slipped my mind. I'll finish up and go change and meet you in the entrance hall, alright?"

"Thank you," said Rose, grateful he hadn't complain or made fun of her for being a stickler for the rules.

As their conversation ended, Erin remembered her plan upon entering the Great Hall.

"Oi! Luce!" she hollered at the strawberry blond Hufflepuff who had now put her book down and was talking to Dom about some advanced form of Transfiguration.

"Yes?" she asked, turning to look at Erin, slightly caught off guard by being addressed so abruptly.

"How's the book?" Erin asked with an innocent look on her face.

"It's fine?" Lucy responded hesitantly. "Actually, it is quite interesting," she continued. "It's all about Gamp's laws, and I was just saying to Dom that-"

"Did you get it from the library?" Erin interrupted. At that point, the female half of the table figured out where she was going with this, while the males remained in ignorant bliss.

"As a matter of fact, I did," said Lucy as a grin tried to come to her lips, but she carefully restrained it. "Why do you ask?"

"It's just that," Erin continued, full out grinning now, "I find the library aids to be particularly helpful this year, don't you? Always willing to lend a hand and recommend books. Whoever recommended that to you must know you pretty well to understand your love for Transfiguration."

Lucy's blush rose and covered her freckled face and ears as Erin spoke. The rest of the girls tried to hide their chuckling as the boys continued to look clueless, save Hugo, who obviously understood the dynamic between his friend and his cousin. Lucy cleared her throat and shook herself in what appeared to be an attempt to shake off her embarrassment and subsequent blush.

"Yes, they are quite helpful," she responded in an attempt to simultaneously not give into the bait and appear as if there was nothing for her to be teased for.

"Wait," said Louis, who had pulled himself out of his head and into the conversation when everyone else had gone quiet to listen in. "What are we missing?"

"It's not so much what you're missing, rather who's missing from this table," Dom mumbled into her pumpkin juice. The rest of the girls giggled as Lucy elbowed her in an effort to keep her quiet.

"What…" Louis paused as it seemed to dawn on him, the previous part of the conversation starting to make sense, and he quickly scanned the table before turning back to grin at Lucy.

"Cheers, Luce. He's alright as far as blokes go. You could do worse than-"

But he was cut off as his sister kicked him in the shin. Lucy buried her face in her hands. Thankfully, the rest of the young men at the table hadn't caught what Dom had said and were still as lost as ever.

"Oh, cheer up, Luce," said Lily, reaching across to grip her cousin's arm. "There's nothing to be ashamed-"

"Yes, well," said Lucy as she gathered her book and rose from her seat. "I think it's time I stop by the Ravenclaw table. I just saw Molly and Jill walk in and my sister hasn't pulled her head out of a book in ages."

The girls started to protest and apologize for teasing her, but she waved them off with a small smile on her face.

"Seriously, it's fine. No harm done. I was finished anyway, and I really should say hello to Molly."

She started to turn away but got an evil look in her eye as she turned back to look at her the cousin who had just learned her secret.

"Say, Lou?" she said with an evil grin, the likes of which her family and friends weren't accustomed to seeing on her face, but knew spelled trouble on the rare occasions it did appear.

"Yeah..?" Louis asked hesitantly.

"Wouldn't you care to join me?" Lucy asked as Caleb smiled, catching onto what she had up her sleeve.

"Why?" Louis responded skeptically with an untrusting look in his eye.

"Oh, it's just that, I'm sure Molly would be more than happy to swap notes with you for O.W.L.s, and I know you'd be more than happy to try and swap spit with Jill."

The whole group was in an uproar as the girls laughed and the boys cheered and applauded Lucy for her more than satisfactory dig at her cousin, who was now the same shade as a ripe tomato. It wasn't exactly a secret that the Gryffindor harbored more than a passing fancy for his cousin's best friend, except to maybe the girl in question.

"Oh, bugger off," he responded sorely. Lucy smiled and flounced away to join the two Ravenclaws where they sat at their table, looking over at the ruckus their friends and family had created as the boys continued to make jibes at Louis, who seemed to have had enough.

"You lot can bugger off too. Don't think I don't notice who each of you can't help but drool over."

This seemed to do the job in shutting up all the young men at the table, Caleb looking particularly terrified. Albus quickly changed the subject to holiday plans as the rest of dinner passed in peace.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Hello again! And now we meet many more characters. I'm rather fond of them. It's a little shorter than the last one and I fully anticipate the lengths to fluctuate. Thanks to those of you who followed! Hope you enjoy the next installment. Please, feel free to let me know what you think! I'd love a review :) Also, there is a Family Tree/Character Chart at the end of Chapter 7.**


	3. I know that you got your reasons

Rose was waiting for Scorpius in the entrance hall. It was now five minutes before seven, and they were due to start rounds at the top of the hour. He made his way to her two minutes before she would have scolded him for being late, having changed back into his black trousers, shirt, tie, and sweater. Thankfully, robes were only mandatory for classes these days.

They were about to make their way through the castle and towards the second floor to start their hour long rounds when they noticed a disturbance in the direction that Scorpius had just arrived from. It quickly became apparent that a few fifth year Slytherins were about to try their hand at sneaking out. It was common knowledge that the Slytherin fifth years and above had a tendency to have a little too much fun on the weekends, and most of the time it involved alcoholic beverages that had somehow been smuggled in.

Noticing the group of them, decked out in black and trying to walk stealthily through a deserted corridor that led to a secret passageway, Scorpius groaned in frustration. He'd always hated having to bust his own housemates. As they got closer, realization crossed his face, and Rose realized that one of the culprits wasn't just another housemate.

"Corbin?"

He asked the question as if he didn't want it to be true. The dark haired boy spun around at the use of his name and immediately looked ashamed of himself, but quickly covered it up with a nonchalant look.

"Scorp, what's up, mate?"

Scorpius scowled and approached him, the other two boys had stopped as well and were watching with slight trepidation.

"What's going on here?" Scorpius asked, a challenge in his voice.

Corbin shrugged. "Out for an evening stroll, exercise and all that. You know how Mum's always telling me how lazy I am."

He gave a sly grin at this, as if sharing an inside joke with the older boy.

"Don't think for one second just because we're family that I'll turn a blind eye."

Scorpius stared him down with his arms crossed over his chest as Rose stood resolutely by his side, ready to support him at a moment's notice, but understanding that he wanted to handle this himself.

Corbin finally seemed to realize the situation he was in along with his inability to get out of it. He heaved a sigh and ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

"Look," he said, "it's the first time they've trusted us to do this. We'll lose any credibility we have if they know we've been caught. Come on, Scor, you know this is important to me."

"I don't care, Cor, rules are rules."

Scorpius stared at him for a while. It was obvious he didn't want to let him off easy, but there was still only so much he could do as a prefect. The boy had a pleading look on his face as Scorpius sighed and made, what Rose hoped, was the best decision.

"WelI I can't just give you a detention, so don't worry about that. And you're not even out after hours so I won't take points, even though I _know_ you're up to something. But I can tell you to head back to your common room. Please don't let me find you out here again."

He gave him a pointed look, and the younger Slytherin nodded his head as the other two boys relaxed.

"Thanks, mate. I appreciate it."

Scorpius nodded, and the three boys walked off in the direction of the common room. He stared after them for a few minutes, looking unsure if he had made the right decision.

"That couldn't have been easy," Rose began tentatively, not entirely sure how what just occurred had affected him. "I mean, I always hate it when I catch my cousins doing something less than acceptable, and I know it can be even more complicated when it comes to yours."

Scorpius sighed and looked at her, a small, grateful smile on his face.

"You're probably one of the only people who actually even remotely understands what I have to deal with in these situations."

She gave him a small smile in return as they continue down the hall together. He had his hands in his pockets and a contemplative look on his face. She decided it was best to wait him out. If he had anything else he wanted to add, he would do it in his own time.

Rose knew he had a hard time with his housemates. With the exception of his relationship with Albus, he wasn't close with any of them. When he reached the end of fifth year and decided to no longer participate in the monthly ragers that were thrown in his common room, any friendships he had with his other housemates fizzled out into acquaintances, save for Al. He would still occasionally attend the gatherings, mainly to make sure it didn't get too out of hand, but never took part in organizing them. Apparently, he had refused to go through the initiation of making his first Hogsmeade run, due to his status as a prefect, and that was basically asking to be exiled. Based on how the boys responded earlier, it was something that held a lot of weight to the house as a whole. Rose wouldn't be surprised if the Slytherins had just waited for them to leave before continuing with their mission tonight.

Scorpius wasn't what they had expected of a Malfoy. Pureblood prejudices were all but extinct, and the houses got along a lot better now, but a desire to stay within your "class" still remained among the majority of the pureblood families. With Albus - who only ever attended their parties and wasn't expected to do much else - they understood because of his family, but they couldn't quite understand why Scorpius was so keen to throw them aside to spend most of his time with a bunch of Gryffindors instead. Rose knew he had his reasons, even though she wasn't entirely sure what they all were, but she sometimes wished he had a better relationship with his housemates, and his younger cousin in particular.

She just wished that everyone else would accept him for who he was. Like she had, like Al had, and like her whole family had.

"I'll miss Ethan as Head Boy next year," Scorpius said eventually. They were about halfway through their rounds and, apparently, he had decided to just move on from the subject. She looked at him quizzically, wondering how he had arrived at his last statement. He caught her questioning look and explained.

"I was just thinking about how much has changed over the past few years, especially with all your older cousins leaving, and how much more it will change after this one. And I realized that I will strangely miss having Longbottom as Head Boy."

"Same," agreed Rose. "But I happen to think you'll make an excellent Head Boy."

She said it with such conviction that Scorpius was slightly taken aback.

"Really?" he asked "You think it'll be me?"

"Of course," she said, as if it were obvious. "We all know Macmillan is too stuck up to treat anyone fairly, Shepard is far too lazy and only thinks about which prefect he can snog while on rounds with her," she said with a shiver. "And Davies," she continued, "is far too biased. He'd let his own house off easy every time. And goodness knows there are some Ravenclaws that don't need any more reasons to think highly of themselves."

"Well blimey, Rose, seems like they'd be a fool not to pick me, even if it is because I appear to be the only option," he said with a roll of his eyes.

"What, No! I didn't mean to imply that you would only get it just because no one else deserved it," she began, eager to correct the implication of her words. "You deserve it far more than they don't. You're fair and kind and just. The way you just handled everything with your cousin earlier? There wasn't anything else you could have done in that situation and still remained fair, and you could tell how much he respects you. You know how to lead people and bring them together. Not to mention you're smart and easy going. Not too high strung, and mature enough to know how to balance things out in your life. I think you can even be trusted to not shirk your duties by sneaking off to snog the Head Girl."

She grinned coyly at him and he blushed at her praise and insinuation. Scorpius hadn't dated much. Ever, really. He had been on a few Hogsmeade dates with a few girls over the years, but nothing had seemed to stick.

"Yeah, well, who knows, I might surprise you," he said with a smirk at her.

"Scorpius Malfoy, how dare you suggest you would ever break a rule. Let alone for such a scandalous reason," she said with mock indignation.

He chuckled at her expression as they continued on their way.

"Don't worry, I'll try and behave myself."

"Good," she said, continuing in her mockingly stern tone before they drifted into a comfortable silence, and Rose was left to her thoughts for a moment. She may have joked about it, but it pained her to think of him spending time alone in secluded areas of the castle with another girl. To her, his response seemed to confirm that he wasn't interested in her. She figured he would have denied having any such ideas or desires and gone on to confess his need to be with her and only her for all of his days.

Wait a minute, where were these thoughts coming from?

She needed to gain some perspective. She was still confused about her feelings for him, and she didn't want to dive into anything too soon or get carried away. They were still young, and they had time. It could wait for now.

She was brought back out of her head by the sound of his voice.

"'Course, it'll probably be you, though, won't it?" he asked as if the answer were the most obvious thing in the world.

"What'll be me?" she asked, trying to regain her hold on the conversation they'd been having ten minutes ago.

"Head Girl," he said with a smile.

"What?" She had barely uttered the word, but he heard her and elaborated.

"Don't get me wrong. Eden, Mandy, and Angie are great and all that, but they don't have your fire. You could really challenge the students, get them going. Yeah, we have more house unity now, but there could always be more. I see you taking us to new levels. All you'd need would be people willing to follow you, and I know I sure as hell would."

He said all this while looking straight ahead as they continued walking. Rose didn't say anything for a few moments as his words sunk in. That meant a lot coming from him. He wasn't the most trusting person, but for him to put so much faith in her and verbalize it, it meant something.

"Thanks you, Scorpius," she said after a few minutes of silence had passed.

"It's just the truth," he said with a shrug of his shoulders, still not looking at her.

"Really, Scorp." She put her hand on his shoulder as they stopped outside of the joint common room, their rounds coming to an end. He stood a good half a foot above her and she had to look up to meet his eyes. "Thank you, for having faith in me. I know it's not something you do lightly and I want you to know that I'd be the luckiest Head Girl in the world if I got to work with you next year."

He rolled his eyes at her but grinned all the same.

"Oh, stop being all mushy. You know I love you too."

And he swung his arm around her shoulder and led her into the joint common room. She barely had time to register what he had said before they joined their friends in the arm chairs by one of the many fires in the great room.

The joint common room had been added on to promote inter-house unity shortly after the war ended. Her father, in fact, had made a big push for this, but part of her thought he mostly did it to impress her mother. It seemed to have worked, though, because nine months after the room had been opened, she'd been born. Or at least that's the story that her uncles liked to tell.

It was spacious with high ceilings and three fireplaces rather than four. Having one for each house would have been counterproductive, so they settled on three in the hopes that it would be well used by many students, and that all houses would mix and mingle. As Rose and Scorpius approached their friends, she spotted two Ravenclaws, three Gryffindors, and a Slytherin among the couches and armchairs, and even a few on the rug in front of the fire.

Rose plopped down on the couch next to Erin, who scooted towards Albus to make room for her. Scorpius sat on the floor in front of her as they joined the conversation that picked back up after they were greeted.

"I just don't see where you come up with these things," said Jill, addressing Louis as they faced each other over a chessboard in front of the fire. Molly and Caleb each sat reading in arm chairs on either side of the couch.

"I mean, using a Time-Turner to gain more study time? Do you want to die from exhaustion?"

"It wasn't my idea," said Louis defensively. "Rose's mum did it in her third year, and she turned out alright."

"Barely," said Rose with a snigger as Jill looked at her with wide eyes. "She ran herself ragged, according to my dad. Missed a few classes and assignments too. It was a lot to keep up with, and she couldn't take it, so she dropped a few classes and handed it in to McGonagall at the end of the year."

"Wow," said Jill with reverence. "Your mum is amazing. And that proves it, Louis," she said, turning back to the blond Gryffindor. "If Hermione Weasley can't handle it, you certainly can't."

"I think you're all thinking about this the wrong way," came Al's bored tone from the other side of the couch as he stared into the fire, ignoring the Herbology book that was open in his lap. "If you had something as precious as a Time-Turner, there would only be one logical use for it."

They all looked at him, expecting him to say something profound and meaningful.

"Sleep," he said with conviction. "I'd wake up, turn the thing back a few more hours, and get some more shuteye."

He said this with finality, and Louis nodded his head in agreement as Caleb and Scorpius chuckled. Rose, Erin, and Molly rolled their eye.

"I can see how that sounds appealing," said Erin in an annoyed tone. "But at this rate, you're going to need one to have more study time. Do you want my help with Herbology or not?"

"I do," he groaned as he threw his head back. "I'm just so bloody tired, and I want it all to be over."

"Sorry, sleepyhead," she said as she ruffled his black hair in a rough but affectionate manner. "We still have exams starting a week from Monday, and you are a few years away from being prepared."

He threw her arm off and pouted at her.

"Fine, then you better help me. You know this stuff better than I do."

"Will you return the favor with Defense? I'm still having trouble getting the wand movement for the shield charm."

As they moved over to a table and chairs a few feet away, they heard Al's incredulous response at her lack of ability to correctly perform a charm that he found as easy as riding a broom, but tuned them out as they carried on with the previous conversation.

"With all your concern for having enough time to study, Lou, you sure are doing a fine job of ignoring that responsibility now," said Rose as Jill and Louis continued in their chess match.

"I have to be prepared to beat Uncle Ron this summer," he said, not taking his eyes off the board. "And believe it or not, Jill is my best competition."

"Not Hugo?" Molly asked in faint surprise as everyone else around the fire looked skeptical as well.

"Skill wise maybe, but Jill here won't shut up for two minutes straight, and it blows my concentration, so, I figure, with all the commotion going on when our families get together, it's best to be prepared."

Jill looked at him as her jaw dropped.

"Well then, what if I just refuse to play you?" she said with her arms crossed and her nose in the air, her wavy brown hair held back by a teal headband and tossed over her shoulders.

"Please," Louise said, only offering her a glance, his dirty blond hair slightly falling off his forehead and into his eyes, "you can't resist a chance to beat me in something, even if it is slim to none." He made a move and looked up at her with cocky smile.

"Check."

Jill looked down at the board as if it had personally offended her, then placed her chin in her hand and contemplated her next move, forgetting Louis's previous comments about her ability to jabber on.

"You know what I find interesting.." she said a few moments later as she prepared to make her move, going off on a topic unrelated to their previous few.

Louis' grin went unnoticed as she stared at the board while he stared at her. Molly and Caleb had gone back to their books, and Rose was making room for Scorpius to join her on the couch, having been vacated by their two best friends a few minutes ago.

"We still need to finish our Arithmancy study guides," he said as he pulled his homework out of his bag. Al and Erin had been kind enough to bring both of their school things so they wouldn't need to head back to their own common rooms after rounds.

"You're right. Best get cracking," Rose said as she stretched, then moved to put her back against the arm of the couch after retrieving her own notes from her bag. Scorpius watched her as she settled in, and she caught him staring.

"What?" she asked as she pulled out her book and began filling in the answers.

"It's hardly fair that you're all the way over there," he said.

"Why's that?" she asked, pausing in her writing to look up at him.

"Because now I can't see your notes. How am I supposed to get any work done that way?"

She contemplated this for a moment, then lowered her knees and stretched her legs across the couch, crossing them at the ankles.

"Tell you what. You use your own notes for now, and if you get stuck, maybe I'll be gracious enough to help you if you ask nicely."

"Fine," he chuckled as he started in on his work. "But on your head be it if I fail."

She shook her head and chuckled at him before focusing back on her own work. She had to help him a few times throughout the night, and she wasn't bothered at all by the fact that they ended the evening with their legs stretched out side by side on a couch that, thanks to the brilliant mind of her father, they were able to share.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Question time!**

 **I've got a bit of a musical theme going with my chapter titles as well as my story title. They are all lyrics. Any guesses as to the artists or song titles? It's been three artists so far.**

 **Also, any suggestions of some song lyrics that you like that might go with this story would be acceptable. Maybe even influence what I write!**

 **What characters are you enjoying? Who would you like to see more of?**

 **I had fun developing some ideas in this one and I hope you enjoyed it.**


	4. Let me in I wanna be your friend

The week flew by, and before they knew it, they were all prepared to face their exams.

Well…some more so than others.

"'What are the three basic uses of Snargaluff Pods?'"

"Umm...wait, give me one second, I know this one."

"Come on, Al," Erin sighed. "We've been over this a hundred times. You should know it by now."

"I know, I know, just give me a moment." He put his head down, mumbling to himself. Erin watched him expectantly for a moment before he let out a groan and, grabbing his text book out of her hands, began to bang it repeatedly on his head.

"Stop, stop! That's not helping anything," said Erin as she sniggered at Al's theatrics while struggling to wrestle the book from his grasp.

"You never know, it might decide to fly out of the book and lodge in my brain." He chuckled at her struggle to steal the book from him as he moved it further out of her reach and above his head. This didn't impede her determination and she became so aggressive that she ended up half on top of him. They continued arguing and laughing until Albus finally relented after she threatened to tickle him.

"Okay, okay, here. You can have the book."

She smiled at him as she sat up to take it, only to have him pull it away at the last minute.

"On one condition," he said with a devious look in his eyes.

"Oh fine, what one condition?"

"If I did better than you on the Transfiguration exam, you have to get your dad to use cooling and warming charms on the path leading to and from Herbology."

She stared at him, a shocked and slightly hurt look on her face.

"Al, you know I can't do that. That completely goes against my rule, my _one rule,_ Al."

It was a general consensus that Erin made too big a deal about never using her position to ask for favors, but she had remained adamant. Ethan was normally more than happy to put in a good word for people, but Erin was always surprised by this and refused to do the same.

Not widely known by their friends, was that their older sister, Alice, had been shamelessly used by a boy during her fifth year. Erin hadn't been in school yet and the details were kept within the family, but a few close friends knew that she had been crushed by the boys actions, and that it had to do with him using her for her connections before leaving her the second he got what he wanted. Al was close enough to her family to know all this. He looked slightly guilty, but persisted.

"I know that, Erin, but we've been friends for years. Do you really think I'm only in this friendship for my own selfish gain? It's not even that big of a request, and the only benefit I get is a more comfortable walk to and from class a few times a week. Besides, do you even know who my father is? I would hate for someone to use me to get to him, so believe me, I know how you feel."

Erin looked at him with an unreadable expression on her face, as if she were processing what he had said. The only indication she gave that she was thinking it over was the fact that she was slightly chewing on her lip. Eventually, she relaxed, having come to a decision.

"You're right, I know I can trust you. It's just hard to change when you're set in your ways."

He looked at her sincerely and gripped her shoulder for a moment in silent support. He could be like that sometimes. Yes, they had their moments when they bickered, quite a few of them in fact, and he spent the majority of his time speaking without a hint of sincerity, but she knew it was all a front. He was one of the most kind hearted people she knew. He'd been that way since they were kids, but as he got older, he developed more of a devil-may-care exterior to help shield him from the pressures that surrounded him. This made the moments when he was truly open with his feelings mean so much more to her.

"Okay, fine, I'll do it, but if I did better than you, you have to jump in the Black Lake at the beginning of next year."

He considered her for a second with pursed lips and a furrowed brow, trying to keep from smiling. She knew he would find this a small price to pay.

"Fine - "

"Naked."

He gaped at her. _There, not so simple now is it, Potter?_

"You can't be serious?"

"Oh, but I am," she said with a cheeky grin. "Don't worry, you can do it under cover of night and we can use the fact that Rose and Scorp will no doubt be Heads to our advantage. And I'll do my best not to peek."

He rolled his eyes at her. Not one to run away from a dare, Al considered her offer. They were evenly matched in Transfiguration after all, and he felt pretty good about how he had done on his exam earlier that day. Where was the harm? He really hated that walk to and from Herbology after all.

"Deal."

She was slightly surprised that he agreed so quickly, but shook his proffered hand.

They returned to studying for their exam and were soon joined by Rose and Scorpius as they left Arithmancy.

"How'd it go?" asked Albus as they approached.

"Not half bad," responded Scorpius. "Those study guides were a lifesaver."

"Yes, and a lot of hard work you put into them too," said Rose, rolling her eyes at him. "I do believe that I ended up filling out about half of yours."

"Only because you're an incredibly generous person."

She glared at him, but a slight blush had risen to her cheeks. "Flattery will get you nowhere. And don't expect the same treatment next year. N.E.W.T.s are far too important for you to just slide by."

"I'll have you know that I take my studies very seriously and have every intention of putting forth a full effort next year. No more funny business," he responded in a pompous manner.

"Mate," said Albus, "you spend half your time in the library as it is. There's hardly any funny business for you to abstain from."

"Then I'll do my best to keep it that way," he said with a smirk.

"If you lot are done carrying on about your superb studying habits," came Erin's dry remark, "we have an exam to get to."

Al froze in terror. "Shit, I'm not ready for this. Erin, punch me, hex me, anything to send me to the Hospital Wing for a few hours so I have more time to prepare."

"Should have thought of that before you spent most of last night playing Exploding Snaps with Hugo. Let's go, drama queen." And she dragged him off to what Al seemed to believe was his doom while Rose and Scorpius continued on to the joint common room to get in some last minute studying before Charms, which would be taking place the following morning.

Exam week continued in much the same way. Al would panic at the drop of a hat, and Rose would worry about how he was possibly going to handle next year if he was this affected by sixth year exams. Caleb, Molly, and Jill seemed to be handling the pressure of O.W.L.s relatively well, but Louis was about to crack under the pressure. Everyone took turns keeping an eye on him until finally, he ran out of the entrance hall and onto the grounds, collapsing under the shade of the birch tree by the lake after finishing his final exam. The other three were closely behind him, and Ethan, Dom, and Eva had barely been seen all week before they emerged an hour after the fifth years, having completed their final N.E.W.T. They joined them on the grounds and pretty soon, everyone else started trickling out as their exams began to finish. The last to join were the sixth years, having come from Defense Against the Dark Arts. They all began to relax and enjoy the freedom that the summer months promised.

Looking around her, Rose saw the three seventh years looking more carefree than she had remembered seeing them all year. Dom and Eva were lying in the grass, their robes discarded, as Ethan chucked stones into the lake with Louis and Molly, competing to see who could throw the farthest. Lucy was chatting with Jill about the Transfiguration O.W.L. while Bobby listened, and Hugo, Lily, and Caleb took turns tossing things in the air at each other to try and catch with a levitation spell. Charlotte looked like she was sleeping as she lay on the ground next to Lucy with her arm thrown over her face.

It was rare that they were all together at the same time. As the years had gone on they had definitely grown as a group, although last year would have been the biggest they had ever been with the added presence of Roxy, Fred, James, Violet, Lorcan, and Lysander. The younger ones hadn't hung around with them as much that year, but they would try to all eat dinner together once a month, a tradition that had continued throughout this past year. The Potters and Weasleys were also a very welcoming group, and their clan had expanded to include quite a few more people other than family. In fact, it seemed as if for every one of them, there was someone else who had joined the group. Rose looked over at her best friends and realized that Erin had yet to sit down and was watching her older brother.

"Ethan?" she called. He stopped his rock throwing to look over at her before he went to grab his bag and robes and moved to join his sister.

"Sorry you lot, but I'm afraid we have to be off." He gripped his sister's shoulder and she smiled thankfully at him.

"We're needed at Great-Gran's," she said to the group at large. There was a swarm of movement as people got up to say goodbye.

"Really, people? We'll see you all in a few weeks for the get together at the Potters'" said Erin as Lily gripped her tightly.

"But it's not the same as seeing you everyday," Molly said as she timidly walked up to hug Ethan goodbye.

"I guess not," said Erin, and then tears started to gather in the corners of her eyes.

"Bugger it all, I'm going to miss you lot," she said, gripping Lucy and Charlotte at the same time.

They eventually broke away from everyone and made their way to meet their dad in his office where they would be taking the Floo Network home before heading to their great-gran's house. Everyone was silent for a moment before Scorpius gave a clap of his hands and addressed the group at large.

"Anyone care for a swim?"

Everyone wholeheartedly agreed and they made their way back into the castle to change. Three hours later, fourteen young witches and wizards had dragged themselves indoors after a much needed afternoon of relaxation and carefree enjoyment of the beautiful summer afternoon.

* * *

The train was set to leave the next day, and Rose felt strange to be taking a train ride with one of her best friends absent. She had ridden to and from Hogwarts with Erin every year, and they only had a handful of trips left to take. This time, she, Albus, and Scorpius were joined by the fourth years in their family, along with Charlotte and Bobby. There wasn't quite enough seats for all of them, but Hugo and Bobby were sat on the floor playing Exploding Snaps and they were all taking turns playing the winner. Hugo was currently on a three game winning streak.

"Cheer up, Rose," said Hugo as she once again released a heavy sigh, gazing out the window at the rolling hills. They were bathed in the warm hues of the setting sun, and the picturesque scene was making Rose feel even more nostalgic. "We never ride the train together. There's no way we'd all fit if Erin were here. Just enjoy the time you get to spend with your little brother."

She rolled her eyes at Hugo as he shot her a cheeky grin, his temporary distraction causing him to lose the game as the stack of cards blew up in his face.

"Yes!" Bobby exclaimed, raising his fist in the air. "Nice run, mate, but it was bound to end sometime. Alright, who will take next?"

Al moved to join Bobby on the floor, and Scorpius slid over to occupy his vacated seat next to Rose.

"You know," he said, barely above a whisper. "This time next year, we'll be heading into the rest of our lives and leaving Hogwarts behind. Scary thought that, isn't it?"

"Are you trying to distract me with thoughts even more depressing than the fact that one of my best friends isn't here and is currently dealing with a hardship? You know how much Erin loves her great-gran. This won't be easy on her."

She hadn't taken her eyes off the window as she spoke. He sighed and tried again.

"That's why she has friends like us. We'll help her get through it, you more than either me or Al. Besides, you'll probably get to spend as much time with her this summer as you normally would. If I know Erin, she'll want a distraction from the pain."

"You're right," she said before collecting herself and turning to look at him. "Thanks for the reminder. I can always count on you to at least try and cheer me up."

"Well I hope I succeeded this time. You've been a right bore this whole trip."

She scowled at him, but soon started chuckling at the extremely pleased look on his face.

"See! Mission accomplished," he said, sounding extremely proud of himself.

"Alright, you've successfully managed to distract me. So, what are your plans for the summer?"

"Well," he began, "other than the plans I have to see you lot, I'm going to spend some time helping my father out with some business endeavors. He knows I'd like to take a more active role in the business one day, and there's always more to learn about potions. I know mum wants to spend time with me as well. She's talked about taking a week long trip to visit Aunt Daphne and her family at some point. I haven't seen the twins since last summer because they were sick over Christmas so I'm sure they've doubled in size by now."

Scorpius was actually very close with his family. His father wasn't the softest of men, but he made sure to do right by his family, Scorpius in particular. He never pressured him to be anything other than himself. Scorpius had a harder time getting on with his mother, who unintentionally pressured him to bring good repute to the family, but she really did only want what's best for him. His mother was very close with her sister, and they normally spent holidays with her family. Scorpius got along well with his cousin Corbin, despite some of their difference. And Corbin's little sisters, who had just turned five that spring, doted on Scorpius.

"I'm sure Evelynn and Emmaline will be thrilled to see you. I'd love to meet them someday."

"They'd love you. They are fascinated by anyone whose hair is a different color than the black locks their entire family shares. Your fiery curls would about do them in."

Rose laughed as he tugged on one of them.

"I heard that!" Lily suddenly exclaimed. Rose and Scorpius tuned back into the conversations going on around them. Lily was glaring and Hugo, Al, and Bobby. The latter two were still playing their game while Hugo was leaned in close so they could talk quietly amongst themselves. Upon her words, Hugo looked up with an innocent expression on his face, Al ignored her, and Bobby tried and failed to look anything other than quilty.

"Heard what?" Hugo asked with a voice that didn't sound as nonchalant as he probably hoped it would. Al shot him a look at his complete lack of ability to remain calm.

"What you were planning. Don't even think about spoiling girls night this year. Rose and Erin can do magic now, and I wouldn't put it past them to use it against you if you try anything."

Lily was pointing a warning finger at Hugo. He wasn't always the best at pulling pranks off, but he was a terrific planner. They could always count on him to be one of the masterminds behind whatever devious things the boys had in store. Hugo raised his hands in a defensive position.

"Hey, you have your traditions, and we have ours. Don't get your wand in a knot over it."

Lily continued to scowl at her brother, cousin, and friend as the boys got back to their game, and Charlotte attempted to distract Lily from her current disdain for the male species. The rest of the trip passed in relative peace and ended with Bobby claiming the title of "Snap King" with a total of five wins. Lucy, who had always been rather timid, came in last with none.

"If you want, I can teach you how to play sometime," Bobby said at the look of disappointment on Lucy's face. They had just finished the last game and she had lost again in a spectacular fashion. The train had pulled into the station and they were all preparing to make their way to the platform. Lucy continued to frown as she put the book she had been reading throughout the train ride into her bag.

"I know how to play," she said. "I just can't get the hang of it."

"Well, then I can teach you how to get the hang of it," he said, as if it were no big deal. She laughed lightly.

"I'm afraid I'm a lost cause. Molly is ace at Exploding Snaps so I've played many a time in my life, and I'm not sure I've ever won."

They were now on the platform and she could see her family gathering a few yards away. Rose, Hugo, Al, and Scorpius had left ahead of them and were already greeting their parents.

"Well, if you ever change your mind," he said with a slight smile on his lips. "I'll see you in a few weeks, alright?"

"Alright," she smiled at him. "Bye, Bobby." And he waved at them before hollering out a farewell to Hugo and wandering off to join his parents and younger siblings.

As soon as his back was turned, Lily gave Lucy a backhanded smack on the arm. She turned to face her, looking surprised and slightly hurt. Lily was watching her with a hand on her hip and a sassy look on her face.

"That boy was straight up flirting with you, and you couldn't even take the time to notice and respond in kind."

Lucy stared between Lily and Charlotte with a dumbfounded expression.

"Wha - what are you on about? We were just talking about a game! A game that I can't even play, mind, which is hardly an attractive quality. He probably thinks I'm pathetic, actually."

"Luce," said Charlotte, with more patience than Lily, "a boy doesn't just offer to spend his time teaching a girl something if he doesn't like her. It's some male ego thing. They like to feel needed. And Bobby was definitely trying to make a move. He definitely gave you an opening to take things a little further. Besides, he seemed keen to spend more time with you." Lily was nodding her head in agreement.

"Girls, please," Lucy said with a roll of her eyes. "We're friends, of course he enjoys spending time with me. I think you're reading too much into this."

And she turned and continued walking towards her family. Charlotte and Lily shared a look before following. They all saw each other a lot during the holidays. They would make her see sense eventually. Besides they were only heading into their fifth year. They had plenty of time.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm pretty sure this is the last time I will be going to POVs other than Rose and Scorpius. Anything from any other point of view will be found in a snapshot. Read and Review!**


	5. One says she's a friend of mine

It was a few week into the holiday, and life had sunk into a rhythm for Rose. She would get up in time to have breakfast with her parents before they left for work, then spend a few hours reading. Her favorite spot to do this was on the swing that hung out front on the wrap around porch, enjoying the cooler weather before it got hot later in the afternoon. She'd then rouse herself to go get ready for the day and would usually meet up with a friend or cousin or two for lunch. A lot of her days were spent having lunch at the Potters'. Her aunt Ginny worked from home in the summer as there was no Quidditch unless the World Cup was going on, so there was a lot less reporting to be done. Hugo would join her on some of these trips to the Potters', and about once a week, Scorpius was there as well. James, who had moved out but couldn't seem to bare missing more than a day of his mother's cooking, was there more often than not, especially since he had time off in the summer as well.

"So, do you think you'll be able to take Tutshill in the season opener?" Hugo asked one day about two weeks into the summer.

"Well," James responded as they sat around the lunch table. "It's hard to say since we haven't started training since Adamson retired. I haven't even had my first real practice as a starter yet. Only time will tell, I guess," he said with a shrug.

"Since when are you so modest?" asked Al with his eyebrows raised. James wasn't one to usually shy away from talking himself up, especially when it came to Quidditch. In fact, everyone had rolled their eyes at Hugo's question, fully expecting James to launch into a never ending tale about the superiority of Puddlemere United and their unquestionable advantage now that he was a starting Chaser. To hear his actual response had caused everyone to do a double take.

James just shrugged his shoulders in response, his manner slightly more subdued than normal. Just last week he was unable to shut up about his future with Puddlemere and his excitement over the upcoming gala that weekend, where he would make his first official appearance with the team as a starting Chaser.

"Well," began Ginny, attempting to ease the strange tension, "we're all looking forward to going to your first match."

"Yeah, mate!" said Albus, looking excited. "I can't believe you were able to get a whole box for the family. And that we're lucky enough that the season starts in August this year! Have you decided who you're going to give the tickets to?"

James just shrugged his shoulders again before responding in a rather miserable manner.

"Doesn't really matter. You can give them to whoever you want, Mum," he said as he threw a glance at Ginny while poking at his food.

"Well, I'm sure you'll want ones for your friends, so I'll set some aside for Roxy, Fred, Ly, Lorcan, and Violet - "

"No need," James interrupted. "Vi can't come. You can give her ticket to someone else."

There was a general spirit of understanding around the table. Everyone knew that James and Violet had a complicated relationship, even if, until this moment, James seemed to be unaware and unaffected by it. Even Scorpius was aware that their relationship was different than it appeared on the surface, and he wasn't even part of the family. Always one to be able to break the tension, he saw his opening.

"An extra ticket then? Great, I've always wanted to see the Tornados thrash Puddlemere."

His plan worked as James looked up at him with a scowl before launching into a long winded speech about the statistics of both teams and the complete unlikelihood of Scorpius' prediction ever occurring. Pretty soon they were all bantering back and forth, and Ginny shot Scorpius a grateful smile as Albus and James were in an intense discussion about the quality of brooms that each team possessed.

Rose subtly studied James throughout the rest of the meal. She knew him almost as well as she knew Albus, as he was her father's godson, and he spent a great deal of time at their house growing up along with his siblings. He and Albus were very close as well, so he generally hung around with him and Rose when he was visiting. Since she and Al were so close in age, James was the one who always felt more like an older brother to her, even though Albus had her beat by a few months as well. As she watched him, she noticed his eyes looked slightly sunken with dark circles under them. Exhaustion seemed to radiate off of him.

After lunch, Scorpius and Al took their turn for cleanup while Hugo and Lily left to meet up with their friends in Diagon Alley, which left Rose and James alone in the family room when Ginny went out to do some work in the garden.

"So, Rosie," James began as he stretched out on the couch. "Excited to be Head Girl this year?"

Rose threw his feet off the couch and sat at the end, criss crossing her legs and turning to face him.

"We don't even know if that will be the case yet. Besides, you and I both know that's not what we're going to talk about."

She was looking at him expectantly but he just pulled his legs up on the couch again and slid further into the cushions, trying to hide behind his knees.

"Jamie…" Rose said with a warning tone, and he slowly sat up. He only let her and Lily call him that, and she knew she could use the affectionate term to get him to open up. Sure enough, he lowered his knees and scooted back up as he let out a sigh.

"I guess I was never good at hiding anything from you. I don't know, Rosie. None of it makes any sense anymore."

"Try me. I'm rather good at figuring out the things that don't make sense." She smiled slightly at him and he heaved another heavy sigh, grabbing a pillow from behind his back and holding it tightly to his chest.

"I just can't seem to do anything right anymore. Nothing will make her happy. She says she wants one thing and then acts as if I've completely buggered it up by doing exactly what she said she wanted. When did this get so complicated? We never had issues like this in school, and now she's refusing to even bloody talk to me."

Rose looked at her cousin sympathetically. "I'll let you in on a little secret, James."

He perked up at her words and looked at her as if the next thing out of her mouth would hold the answers to all of his problems.

"Girls don't always say what they mean. In fact, more often than not, they'll say the exact opposite, hoping you'll make the right choice on your own."

He looked at her in despair. "But that makes no sense at all. Why would anyone do that? Doesn't it just make more sense to say what you mean and actually mean it?"

"Absolutely," said Rose. "Believe me, I think it's as ridiculous as the next person, yet I still manage to do it." She paused for a moment as he looked frustrated by this news. "But maybe she's scared that, maybe if she's honest, you'll do the same in return."

He looked at her skeptically. "Why would that be a bad thing?"

"Maybe she's afraid of how you feel."

"Why on earth would she be afraid of that?"

Rose let out a sigh. "James, how _do_ you feel about Violet?"

He thought about it for a second before responding.

"She's my _best friend,_ Rose. I know I always says it's Ly and Freddie, but there's no one I'm more sure will always be there for me than her. And now I'm questioning all of that."

"Well, what exactly happened?" she asked, deciding to come back to the feelings portion later and fully prepared to listen for as long as he needed her to.

James sighed before launching into his story.

"So you know how I was going on about that gala last week?"

She nodded to indicate that she remembered.

"Well, originally, I'd sort of asked her to go with me."

Rose had a judgmental look on her face now, and she could tell James knew he probably deserved it, even though he was still trying to figure out where he'd gone wrong.

"I would say that's wonderful, but you said originally. How'd you manage to mess that up?"

"I know this whole mess is somehow my fault, but when we had originally decided she'd go with me, it was as friends. I didn't think she'd be that upset when I asked an actual date to go with me instead."

"James!" Rose exclaimed, shock and disbelief written all over her face.

"Don't look at me like that, Rosie! I asked Vi to go because I was invited so last minute due to the sudden roster change, and I didn't think I'd have time to find an actual date. I told her as much when I asked her. I didn't think she'd blow her lid when I told her she was off the hook."

James looked positively miserable, and Rose softened. "Did she really go off on you?"

"Like you wouldn't believe. Started talking about how I always take her for granted and that I was a bloody fool and completely blind to how I treat her."

"Well are you?" she asked, hoping James would finally see sense about his best friend.

"I never thought I treated her differently than any of my other friends. I don't see what the problem is at all."

"Maybe that is the problem, Jamie," He looked at her questioningly. "Maybe she should be treated differently."

James looked deep in thought, trying to process what Rose was implying. She patiently waited for him to speak again.

"Like how? Like a sister?" He now seemed utterly confused. Rose just rolled her eyes at him.

"Well, do you feel the same way about her as you do about Lily? Or any of your female cousins for that matter?"

He thought long and hard before a slight blush started to rise on his cheeks and he couldn't meet Rose's eyes.

"No," he said softly, "I reckon I don't."

Rose couldn't help but beam at how uncomfortable he looked. "Do you get what I'm saying now?"

James finally looked at her and seemed to brace himself for what he was about to say.

"Look, Rose, I know what you're getting at, but I've been trying to stamp this out for Merlin knows how long. I'm not about to risk stuffing everything up or make things awkward by finally admitting how much I bloody care for her as so much more than a friend."

Rose was slightly surprised that she'd actually gotten him to admit that much, and he looked like he had surprised himself as well.

"Well, you're likely to lose her anyway with the way you've been behaving lately. Did you ever think that she might actually feel the same way as you?"

He seemed skeptical at this idea. "But she's never said anything otherwise."

Rose ran her hands through her hair in frustration. She refused to just give him the answer. She wanted him to get there himself. She thought about her relationship with Scorpius and the words she would want someone to say to him if he was sitting where James was. Maybe her confused feelings could come in handy right now.

"Look, James," she began, preparing herself for the vulnerability she was about to embrace. "I know how it feels to be caught between friendship and something more."

He stared at her quizzically, and she couldn't help but let her eyes flicker behind him to the door that led to the kitchen, where they could hear his brother and a certain blonde having what sounded like a little too much fun cleaning up.

Realization struck his face and he quickly looked back and forth between the kitchen and Rose.

"Really?" he asked in a softer tone so they weren't overheard, his eyes bugging out at her as he soaked in this information. "Since when?"

"Honestly?" she began hesitantly, matching his quiet tone. "I couldn't even begin to guess."

She let out a small, depressed sounding chuckle, looking down at her hands and willing herself to not feel too self conscious about her confession. It was the first time she had ever admitted to anyone that she was feeling anything more than friendship towards Scorpius, and it terrified her how real it was all becoming in her mind. She was finally starting to embrace how she felt about her best friend.

"Fuck."

Rose looked up at James and let out a genuine laugh. He still had a slightly shocked look on his face, but he was now grinning at her.

"Good one, Rosie. He's brilliant."

She quickly became subdued, recalling the situation she was actually in.

"Yes, well, you're the only one who knows, and I trust you to keep it that way. Nothing's actually happened, and I have no idea if he feels the same. He certainly hasn't given me much of an indication that he feels anything more for me than friendship, and I'd be terrified to confront him about it. The chance that he might not feel the same and that I could ruin our friendship? Right now, it's not worth the risk when I have no clue how he might feel. His friendship means too much to me. So the point I wanted to make," she continued, getting back to the topic at hand and looking pointedly at James, willing him to understand, "is that, while I'm not privy to Violet's personal thoughts and feelings, I think I might know where she's coming from."

James looked at her questioningly, recalling what she had said earlier. The uncertainty of it all and about being caught between friendship and something more, afraid to take the next step because you have no clue as to how the other feels.

"Wait…" he said slowly. "You can't mean what I think you mean."

She gave him a sly smile. "Finally figured it out have you?"

He looked dumbfounded. Then his face twisted in pain and he dropped it into his hands.

"Bloody fucking hell, I'm an idiot."

"That's one thing we can all agree with, but why this time?" his brother asked as he walked out of the kitchen and slapped James on the back of the head with a drying towel, Scorpius trailing behind him.

James shot a scowl at his brother. "None of your damn business if you're going to be an arse."

Albus had a mocking look of shock on his face. "Me? Why, I'd never be an arse to you brother dear."

James had put his face back in his hands and was ignoring his brother, his mind clearly preoccupied. Al and Scorpius picked up on the slightly more serious tone of the situation and looked at Rose for clarification, who just shrugged before informing them it wasn't her place to say. They looked back at James with worry on their faces. Scorpius then moved to pull out the chessboard and Al sat across from him. It appeared they were prepared to just be there incase James should need them. Rose picked up her book which was resting on the coffee table, and they remained in silence for a solid half an hour, until James finally picked his head up and looked around the room, as if just remembering that they were all there. Scorpius and Al looked at him expectantly, but his eyes landed on Rose.

"How do I fix this?" he asked in a timid and terrified voice.

"Well, do you know how you feel? Do you know what you want?" she asked.

He nodded, and she grinned at him.

"Then I suggest you do something about it."

* * *

It was Rose's turn to make dinner that night, so she apparated home around half past five to get started. She and James had discussed at length how he could "do something about it" as she put it. He had argued that her solution was impractical since Violet wasn't even talking to him, so they, along with Al and Scorpius, who they clued in on the situation ("You're a bloody git," Al had told his brother, who chucked a pillow at him), brainstormed ways to get her to listen so James could "apologize and confess his undying love for his best friend" as Scorpius had put it.

They realized that the best chance he'd have would be at the Quidditch match that was held annually at the Potters' family home and would take place in a few weeks. She would be coming with Roxanne the night before to participate in the traditional girl's night the day before the match. Rose said she would touch base with Roxy to make sure Violet was still planning on coming at least to the girls night, and promised she'd do her best to get her to stay for Quidditch the next day.

"Okay," James had said, "but it will be very hard to keep the boys out this year. I'm going to go mad knowing I could miss my best chance to talk to her if she plans to bolt in the morning."

Rose tried to make the boys promise not to ruin their time, but they wouldn't budge.

"If James needs us to stage a coup, we stage a coup." Al had said in all seriousness.

James couldn't stop beating himself up over the situation he'd put himself in. He was pacing almost violently in front of the fireplace. Ginny had come in from gardening, taken one look at the scene in the living room, and informed the other three that they looked like they had everything handled before she went to wash up.

"I can't believe I spent all this time pushing her away. She's got to have no bloody idea how I feel! Which, incidentally, is what I was going for. But if I had thought that on some level she felt the same? Blimey, everything I've been afraid of happening if I ever said something, she's been afraid of too. And with good reason! I've been a prat!"

Everyone took turns reassuring him that the situation was still salvageable and that he needn't worry. James was still having a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that he might actually have a chance with her.

"Why else would she be refusing to speak to you right now? Girls only do that if they really care."

Everyone gave Al a quizzical look at these words, but Rose actually saw a lot of truth behind them as well.

Scorpius had given some surprisingly good insight too. He had encouraged James to be brave and to fully put himself out there.

"It'll all be worth it in the end," he'd said, "Especially if you end up getting to spend the rest of your life with someone you consider to be the best person in the world. I can't think of anything better than having your best friend forever by your side."

He had said this as he and Al continued to play chess, his eyes fixed on the board. Al just nodded his head in agreement as he too was focused on the game, but James had shot Rose a knowing look.

Now, as she peeled potatoes and prepared the chicken to be roasted, she couldn't help but let her thoughts stray to _her_ best friend and what the future might hold for them. Did she think she wanted to spend forever with him?

No, definitely too soon to think things like that. She was still trying to juggle her changing feelings. Was she curious about where it could go? Without a doubt, but she understood why James felt terrified to face Violet, even though he had a pretty solid idea of how she felt. The idea of rejection, of losing that person who means so much to you, it pained her to think about more than she cared to admit.

And what if he did feel the same way and they did get together but it was only for a while? What if they broke up and it was horribly messy? She'd wind up losing him eventually anyway. Would it still be worth it?

The sound of apparition outside and the door opening brought her out of her head as her parents walked in the front door, her father finishing up a funny anecdote from work and her mother chuckling at him with an amused expression on her face. Even after her father had stopped working at the Ministry, he made sure his schedule worked out so that he could see his wife home from work almost every day.

"Were you able to get it off of him?" she asked her husband with a smile on her face as she kicked off her shoes and hung her bag and robes on a hook by the door.

"Took forever to catch the little bugger, but yeah, we eventually controlled the situation."

By the mirth in his eyes, Rose could tell that whatever situation had occurred at the shop today was more amusing than anything.

"Rose! Hello, dear," her mother said brightly, noticing her daughter standing in the doorway to the kitchen. She smiled in greeting at her parents as her father also shot her a hello and inquired about dinner.

"It's in the oven. Another mishap with a customer then?" she asked her dad. Ever since he had left the Aurors and gone to work with her uncle George, she and Hugo had loved hearing the crazy stories he would come home with.

"Yeah," he chuckled lightly. "Tiny little wizard with a sense of humor got ahold of one of the headless hats, although he was about the size of the hat itself so the whole thing covered him and made him invisible so you saw only his feet. Took ages to catch him."

Ron collapsed on the couch with a groan, and Hermione chuckled at him.

"Getting old, are we?"

He shot her a look. "You try going on the run for a year and then turning right around and jumping into a full fledged career as an Auror. I don't know how Harry still does it, to be honest."

"Yes, well," said Hermione matter-of-factly as she sat next to him on the couch, looking through the post from the day, "Harry mostly stays in the office now, doesn't he?"

"Still," Ron said, "I'm glad to spend my day surrounded by jokes rather than hunting dark wizards. Takes a lot out of you."

Hermione, still focused on the mail, silently reached out and rested her hand on his thigh as his arm came around to lightly rub her back.

Rose watched her parents and thought for the first time about how they got to where they were. They looked so peaceful and comfortable together. She knew that they, along with her uncle, had been best friends growing up, but she had never given much thought as to how or when they became something more. She knew it wasn't really until they were older, but other than that, she didn't know many details.

Ron eventually noticed her watching them.

"What's up, Rosie?" he asked.

Hermione glanced at Ron as he spoke, but then turned to look at Rose as well. By the looks on their faces, she knew they could tell something was on her mind.

"I was just thinking, that's all," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"About what, dear?" her mother asked. "Anything you'd like to talk about?"

Rose studied her parents for a moment before deciding there was no harm in a simple question.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything, dear," said Hermione and she gestured to the chair across from them as she set aside the post and leaned back into Ron's side, his arm coming around her shoulders.

"It's just…" she began hesitantly, "I was wondering about you two."

Her parents glanced at each other and then looked at her quizzically.

"What about us, Rosie?" Ron asked.

"I don't know," Rose said with a shrug. "it's just, I don't think I know much about the history of your relationship. I know you were best friends in Hogwarts and you eventually became something more, but that's it. I don't know who liked who first or who made the first move or when things actually changed between you. I guess I was just curious," she finished, looking slightly scared that they would either scold her or laugh at her. Instead, their response was to look at each other and smile.

"We knew one of them would ask eventually. Do you want to start or should I?" Ron asked his wife.

"I'd love to see what you have to say, actually, so by all means," and she rested her head on his shoulder, prepared to listen. Rose looked at her father expectantly.

"Well," he began, "I guess you could say it all started with a lost toad."

"Ron," Hermione chuckled, "not that far back or this will take ages."

"A troll, then?"

"Nope."

"A basilisk?"

"No again."

"How about a hippogriff?"

"Honestly, Ron…"

"The Yule Ball?"

"That's more like it."

Rose smiled at her parents' banter and waited for her father to continue.

"You see, Rosie, I had always found your mother to be a right pain in the arse, but a lovely one at that."

Hermione scowled up at him, and he laughed before placing a peck on her nose and turning back to his daughter.

"And it took me forever to admit to myself how much I liked her as more than a friend."

He went on to explain, with Hermione interjecting when she found it necessary, the events of the Yule Ball, the aftermath of it, and the trainwreck that was their sixth year, before finally getting to their year on the run and the war. Rose knew quite a bit about that time, but there were still things she knew her parents had never told her. As they reached a certain point in their story, her father grew quiet, not sure how to continue. Hermione looked up at him and grabbed his hand comfortingly before looking back at their daughter.

"Rose, something you have to understand is how dark and powerful horcruxes are. I know we explained them to you last summer, but it's not something you can truly understand unless you've been affected by them. And to have to carry one around with us for months on end… well… it took its toll."

She glanced at her husband, and he nodded for her to continue.

"Rose, there's something that happened during our time on the run that we've never told you and your brother, and it deeply affected your father and I's relationship for a time."

Rose sat forward and nodded her head, bracing herself.

"The horcrux was trying to divide us and tear us apart. It used our weaknesses against us and, well.."

She hesitated for a moment, and Ron rose to the occasion.

"I left."

He said the statement so simply, but by the look on his face, Rose could tell he carried nothing but regret for the decision he had made all those years ago.

"I left," he said again, "I had a stupid fight with Harry, and I stormed off, ignoring your mother calling for me not to go." Hermione squeezed his hand in encouragement, and the pressure of her warm, familiar touch seemed to ground him.

"I regretted it immediately, and I eventually found my way back, but the damage had been done. Your mother would hardly look at me for a while, let alone speak to me."

"But she forgave you?" Rose questioned.

"Yes," Hermione responded, "I did. He more than proved himself, and to be honest, I missed him so much I almost forgave him straight away, but you know how stubborn I can be."

Rose grinned at her mother. She was the same way.

"Anyway," Ron continued, "by the time we ended up at Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur's, all was forgiven. We had been through too much not to realize what was right in front of us."

A look passed between them, and Rose could tell there was something else they were leaving out. They had always skimmed over the part of the story that explained how they had ended up at her aunt and uncle's house.

"We both knew then how much we cared for each other and what we wanted at that point, but we both refused to act on it or even openly acknowledge it to each other," Hermione said. "We were in the middle of the war, and it was only getting harder to make it through each day, but we had to be there for Harry."

"Git," Ron said with a chuckle, and Hermione smacked him in the stomach.

"We made it through the next few weeks and up until the battle of Hogwarts." Hermione continued. "For my part, it had been hard, knowing anything could happen and I'd never… well, I was scared we'd lost our chance, and then… well…"

To Rose's surprise, her mother blushed. It was rare to see her mother like this, and she looked at her father in astonishment to see him beaming.

"She flung herself at me. Right in the middle of the battle. Snogged me like her life depended on it 'cause I wanted to save the House Elves."

Her father was grinning cheekily, and her mother's face was buried in her hands.

"I thought we might die any second and it was so selfless of you and I'm sorry I couldn't help myself."

She said all this with her face still in her hands, and Ron squeezed her shoulders affectionately.

"Have I ever complained about your decision, love?" he asked with a slight grin.

She finally composed herself and looked back up at her daughter. "Does that answer your question, dear?"

Rose was simultaneously enjoying her parents tale and wanting it to end as quickly as possible. They were still sickeningly sweet on each other. But she still had one more question.

"Yes, but…" She paused over how to phrase her question. "How did you handle the transition? You were best friends for years. How did that all just change? Wouldn't it have been awkward at first?"

They just smiled at each other, and her father responded to her question.

"Nah, I'd been wanting this for years. If anything, it made us less awkward around each other."

"Mind, it did take us a short while to get all our ducks in a row," Hermione continued. "After the war was over, we didn't get the chance to talk about things for a while. I had sent your grandparents to live in Australia as we've told you before, and I'd set my mind on going to find them a few weeks after the war was over and all the funerals had taken place. When I casually mentioned over dinner one night that I would be setting off on my own the following day, your father lost it, in front of his entire family no less."

It was Ron's turn to blush now.

"I'd just got you. I wasn't about to lose you so soon."

"And that's exactly what he said to me," Hermione said, beaming at her husband, "in front of his parents, his siblings, and even Harry, poor lad. He seems to be there for all of our big moments," her mother chuckled lightly.

"I ended up going with her to Australia, and the rest, as you say, is history. We just had to make it through a year of her being away at Hogwarts as I started working as an Auror, but it was all worth it."

They shared a smile before turning back to their daughter.

"What made you ask, Rose?" her mother asked.

"Oh," Rose started at the question. She had been asking because of her relationship with Scorpius, but she didn't want her parents knowing that. Not yet, anyway. Her mother was already giving her a look that was slightly more knowing than she was comfortable with. So she did the only thing she could think of and threw her cousin under the bus.

"I was just talking to James earlier. He's having a hard time of it with Violet," she said as a way of explanation.

Her father chuckled slightly as her mother continued to give her a knowing look.

"He finally pull his head out of his arse, then?" Ron asked, and Hermione scolded him.

"Hopefully," said Rose, "but don't say anything to Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny. I probably shouldn't have mentioned it in the first place."

"Am I at least allowed to give my godson a hard time about this?" Ron asked.

Rose laughed and decided that, while she should apologize to James for spilling the beans, a little good-humored ribbing never hurt anyone.

* * *

 **A/N: Posted in honor of the Boy Who Lived's birthday! Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it :)**


	6. Gonna take alot to drag me away from you

The time had finally come for everyone to be under the same roof. It was always a special week for the cousins, and not once had a single one of them been absent since they had started their summer tradition. Now that Victoire and Teddy were older, they weren't usually there for the whole weekend, especially since they were in the middle of planning their wedding.

They had been engaged for nearly two years now, but with the passing of Teddy's gran a few months into their engagement, they had put the wedding off. It would finally be happening at the start of the new year, and Victoire couldn't have been more excited to get started on the final details and plans. She was the perfect bride, never losing her head, and continuing to be her gracious self throughout the process, even when the wedding was delayed.

Despite the heartache, the loss of Andromeda had changed her and Teddy's relationship for the better. It was almost like a wake up call. Teddy had lost his closest living relative, and Victoire was to be his family. Her love for Teddy had humbled him from the start, and the reminder that life was a vapor solidified his perspective.

He was blessed beyond comparison with the family that Harry had given him and the one that Victoire promised him. He'd become even more of a man over the past year. His wild side had tempered out, and his boyish qualities - while they remained - matured. Being the oldest of the younger generation, his sense of responsibility became less of a burden to bear, and he embraced it with gratitude. Rose and all of her cousins had always seen Teddy as one of them, and she was excited for him to officially be a part of the family.

On the morning of the day before the annual family Quidditch match, Victoire, her mother, her aunt Hermione, and her bridesmaids went dress shopping. She had found her wedding dress a few months ago, but since most of her bridesmaids had been at school, they had yet to find theirs.

Other than her sister as maid of honor, Victoire had her best friend Alice, and three of her cousins: Rose, Roxanne, and Lily. Erin had tagged along as well since she was Alice's younger sister and had always been treated as one by Victoire. After three hours spent in four different shops, they finally found the perfect dress. One was ordered for each of the bridesmaids after they had their measurements taken. It was a hot summer day, and they decided to make an ice cream run before returning to the Potters'.

"So, I was thinking," began Victoire as they sat outside Florean's. "We do a bachelorette night on Boxing Day? That way it's still a week before the wedding and it won't interfere with Christmas."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and Dom began to question her sister about how she wanted to plan the evening.

"So," Erin said in an undertone to Rose, "any word on Violet?"

Erin had been brought into the loop regarding James. She, Rose, Al, and Scorpius had gone into Diagon Alley the other day, and Al wasted no time before filling her in. Rose didn't mind too much that Al seemed to lack the ability to keep a secret. She supposed she could even use the help, and Erin could use the pick me up. Things weren't going well with her great grandmother, and she was spending all of the time she wasn't with Rose at the older witch's side.

They hadn't mentioned anything about James' dilemma to the other girls. Rose decided that the fewer people who knew the better. It was less pressure on the two of them that way.

"No," Rose sighed. "I was going to ask Roxy today, but I haven't had a good opening."

Erin nodded her head and began to respond.

"Well it shouldn't be that - "

"WHAT?!"

An exclamation from all the other females seated around the table pulled them out of their conversation. They were all looking at Roxanne with a mix of shocked, excited, and uncertain expressions. The curly haired brunette had a timid smile on her face as she sunk back in her seat in response to all the stares she was receiving.

"Were you planning on telling us?" Victoire asked. She was beaming at Roxy who smiled back at her.

"Well, we had only just officially decided last week, and we haven't even found a place yet. I figured I'd tell you at some point this weekend."

She was met with a chorus of questions about how her family and her current roommate felt about this, as well as the occasional affirmation of what a catch her boyfriend was.

"Alright," interrupted Erin, never afraid to be blunt and catching the attention of the whole table. "Mind filling us in? We sort of missed the first part."

"Rox is moving in with Lorcan," supplied Lily with a look of glee on her face.

Rose and Erin turned to stare at Roxanne. It was true that the two had been together for over three years now, but Rose's cousin had never been one to act without thinking, and neither was her boyfriend. They were the opposites of their twin brothers in that respect.

"Well, that's great news, isn't it?" asked Erin.

"I'll say!" said Dominique, who was sitting next to Roxy and gripping the arm of her chair, looking like she was having a rather difficult time containing her excitement. The other women present continued to have skeptical looks on their faces. Victoire's mother had pursed lips, and Alice seemed to not know what to think. Hermione looked as if she was trying to keep her reputation as a level headed adult, but was actually hiding genuine excitement for her niece.

"Darling," began Fleur, "'Ave you really thought zis through?"

Roxanna nodded, a look of calm assurance on her face.

"We have," she said confidently. "We've been through a lot together, and we've only come out stronger. We think we're both ready for that step."

Alice spoke up for the first time.

"But, you're only eighteen."

"We'll be nineteen in the fall," she responded. She didn't sound like she was trying to convince anyone, more that she knew exactly what she was getting into and was fully prepared to face it. "This is something we want and we've already talked to his parents and mine about it. They're all on board."

Fleur seemed to relax at this, but Alice still looked uncertain. She always did when it came to serious commitment. Hermione was letting her excitement show through a broad grin.

"Well I think it's brilliant," Rose offered, smiling at her cousin, who returned it with a brilliant one of her own. She knew that they had hit a rough patch in their relationship over the last few months, but she was unaware of the details. She was thrilled to see that things had worked out for them.

"Well, I guess there goes your and Vi's apartment for the night of the bachelorette," said Victoire. Her nose scrunched up as she began to contemplate her other options.

"Speaking of Violet," Rose said, seeing her opening. "Is she planning on coming tonight?"

"Last I heard, yes," Roxanne responded, digging back into her ice cream.

Erin and Rose shot each other grins that no one else noticed.

"Will she keep the apartment? Do you think we could still all crash there? She'll be invited after all." Dominique asked.

Roxanne thought about it for a moment before responding. Her head tilted to the side and her wild brown hair threatening to dip into her ice cream.

"I don't see why not. Although, we can always have it at mine and Lor's. I can just send him to Ly and Fred and James' place. They're talking about all getting a place together once Lorcan and Ly are no longer living together. He can survive one night with them."

They all chuckled at her statement. Lorcan wasn't nearly as wild as the other three, and even though they all got along fine, he had no desire for them to all live together and was forever grateful that he and his brother had been in Ravenclaw during their Hogwarts years.

"Brilliant!" said Victoire. "We can start planning, then."

They spent another half hour in Diagon Alley before heading back to Potter Manor to prepare for their girls night in. All the essentials were prepared. They had all of their favorite junk foods and sweets, some bought in town earlier that day and others prepared by their mothers and grandmother. Supplies had been set up for all things girly, music was playing on the gramophone, and the Potters had even invested in a television set. Muggle things had become more prevalent in the Wizarding World since the end of the war. Dennis Creevey, who was the younger brother of one of Ginny's friends from school, had gone on to work in a branch of the Ministry that allowed him to develop a way to alter Muggle technology so that magic would no longer interfere with it in most Wizarding homes.

"With the war and his brother's passing," Ginny had said, "Dennis is determined to better the wizarding world, and he wants to do everything he can to help magical folk embrace the Muggle World."

The Weasleys and the Potters had grown up watching Muggle films, and even Quidditch games were starting to be aired on the Wizarding Television Network. Ron was still fascinated by it, as were all of the older generation of Weasleys, but young Fred had taken after his grandfather's interest in Muggle things and was an expert. If they ever had an issue with any of the "funny contraptions" as Ron called them, they always went to Fred.

As the other girls started to arrive, Rose grew nervous about what the boys had planned, but was determined to make herself relax and enjoy the evening. Since they normally tried something, she knew they were likely to do it again. Especially if James was determined to talk to Violet.

Violet had arrived a few hours earlier than the rest of the girls, determined as always to be helpful. Thankfully, the boys had made themselves scarce by this time. Rose could tell that Violet was trying to avoid James. She Floo called before coming over to subtly check if he was there and then arrived moments later in a puff of green smoke, her lean figure wracked with more fatigued than normal.

Rose's aunt greeted her as if she were one of her own nieces, embracing her tightly and doting on her. Violet had always loved Ginny, and the two had a close relationship. They, along with Alice, were in the kitchen preparing and plating some of the food. Rose and Erin were setting up the family room by putting cots and mattresses out for everyone to sleep on. There were blankets, sleeping bags, and pillows spread all over the room as they began to put sheets on everything while surreptitiously watching Violet through the entrance to the kitchen.

"She doesn't seem as…I don't know, bubbly as normal, does she? Is bubbly even the right word for her?" Erin asked. She was hardly paying attention to what she was doing and was currently trying to force a pillow into its case from the wrong angle.

"Will you stop staring?" said Rose, impatiently. "She's going to start to think something is up."

Erin looked properly scolded and got back to her bedding preparations. Violet came in a few moments later. She looked tired in a way that seemed to speak more to her emotional state than an actual lack of sleep.

"Need any help with anything out here?" she asked.

"I think we're just about set," said Rose as they threw the last few pillows into place.

"Brilliant," Violet said with a sigh before collapsing on the couch closest to her.

Erin and Rose shared a look, unsure of how to proceed. While the atmosphere wasn't tense, there was an element in the air that spoke to the internal struggle that was raging in the older girl.

"You alright, Vi?" Erin asked tentatively.

Violet just sat there staring into space for a moment before shaking her head and giving them both a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"I'm alright. Just tired. Training has me running ragged at the moment. The spell damage cycle is exhausting."

Erin lit up as Violet began to talk about her work at St. Mungo's. While she had never elaborated too much on the subject, Rose knew that Erin's true love for herbology lay in the area of curative potions.

"How's that been going? Do you cycle through different specialties then? What's your favorite so far? Do you know where you'd like to end up?"

Erin fired off all these questions in quick succession, and Violet looked slightly overwhelmed yet amused.

"Yeah, we spend about six weeks on each floor before switching to another. We should spend time on each floor at least twice throughout our training before we pick a specialty. I mostly prefer to work with the families that come in, and honestly, even though it'll be hard, I think I'd like to work in the long-term care for children ward."

"That's fantastic!" Erin said, excitedly. "You'll be brilliant at that."

Violet gave her a smile that seemed slightly more genuine than her previous one. The conversation seemed to have cheered her up.

"Thanks. I just have to do well on my qualifying exams next year."

"I'm sure you've got it in the bag," Rose said confidently. Violet shrugged her shoulders and seemed to recoil back into herself. Thankfully, Eva chose that moment to show up, closely followed by Lucy, Molly, Jill, and Charlotte. Lily, Dom, Victoire, and Roxy had all been getting things prepared for pampering on the closed in patio, but came in when they heard everyone arrive. Pretty soon, all the food had been laid out and the night's festivities began.

The evening had been going well, and by ten o'clock, Victoire and Alice had left for their respective homes, and the rest of the girls were changed into their pajamas and ready to settle in for a film and eventual slumber. Lily was currently inspecting the sleeping bags and blankets. She looked quite comical as she tiptoed around with a broom in her hand, using the handle to shift things around.

"Lily," Charlotte said while laughing at her best friend, "what on earth are you doing?"

Lily looked up at Charlotte as she and all the other girls watched her.

"I'm just checking. You saw the boys with their heads together on the train. These could be laced with something to make us erupt in boils. Or maybe they shoved a bunch of nifflers in here."

"Lily, we've hardly let this room out of our sight, and everything was fine when we set up this afternoon. Maybe we can finally hope that they've matured enough to leave us alone." Rose said practically.

Lily still looked skeptical, but resigned herself to the fact that they would have to brave the rest of the evening unprepared. They all began to settle in, and Violet and Roxanne volunteered to make fresh popcorn. The rest of the girls had begun to sort through their movie options when they heard two shrieks from the kitchen, quickly followed by Violet and Roxanne dashing madly back into the family room with startled looks on their faces. They were greeted by a chorus of inquiry and alarmed expressions.

"Someone's outside -"

"We saw something through the window -"

"I don't think it was an animal -"

"Definitely human -"

"We're going to die!" Violet finished, a terrified look on her face. A few of the other girls looked startled as well, but Rose, Erin, and Lily all rolled their eyes.

"Who'd of thought," Lily began, hands on her hips and the makings of mischief on her face, "they'd actually be stupid enough to show up this year rather than just set something up before hand. There's no way they can get away with anything now we know they're here."

She looked ready to catch them in the act, and all the other girls visibly relaxed when they realized what was happening, but Violet tensed up.

"You think it's the boys?" she asked, her words laced with worry.

"Who else would it be?" asked Jill, looking as determined as Lily to spoil their fun. "They must be trying to scare us or something."

"Or something," mumbled Erin, but she was only heard by Rose and Lily, who shot them both a quizzical look.

Violet had started to chew on her freshly manicured bright blue nails. While she previous appeared as if her stomach had dropped through her feet, she was now hopping from foot to foot as if prepared to run for it at the first sign of trouble.

There was a sudden banging on the back patio door, making them all jump. It was quickly followed by a loud noise coming from one of the upstairs windows, the kitchen window, and another room from the floor above. The girls all looked around unsure of what to do or what was even happening before Molly decided to take control of the situation.

"Alright, here's what we do. Lu, Char, and Lily, head upstairs. That sounds like one of them is coming from Uncle Harry's den. Jill and I will check out the master bedroom because I wouldn't put it past them to climb in through the balcony. Eva and Dom, check the dining room, Erin and Rose, take the patio, and Rox and Vi, head back to the kitchen."

Everyone nodded their heads and began to split up for their respective lookout zones.

"Umm…" Violet began, continuing to nervously shift from foot to foot, "if it's all the same, I think I'll just stay here."

All the other girls looked at her strangely. Violet had never been one to be easily frightened. Rose and Erin tried very hard to hide grins as Lily continued to watch them, looking like she was dying to question the two girls, and jealous that they seemed to know something she didn't.

"I can go with Roxy if you'd rather just wait here," Lucy offered.

Violet nodded her head in thanks and everyone split up. Rose and Erin were inspecting the many patio windows, wands lit, when Rose finally caught sight of a lurking figure. She would recognize that blond head anywhere.

"Erin," she whispered to her friend, nodding her head in the direction of the door. They crept forward and slowly opened it, peeking out.

"Wotcher!"

They both struggled to reign in terrified shrieks as Al appeared from behind the door. Scorpius approached from the other side of the patio where Rose had seen him creeping. Al laughed as Erin punched him in the chest.

"You morons," Erin said without any actual malice in her voice. "What's your plan, then? Give us a good scare? That the best you could come up with?"

"Where's Violet?" Scorpius asked, disregarding all of her questions.

"She stayed in the family room by herself, why?" Rose asked.

Al and Scorpius shared a look, evil grins growing on their faces.

"You mean no one else is in there?" Scorpius questioned.

Rose slowly shook her head in affirmation.

"No, everyone separated to try and catch you all, but she opted to stay behind. Frankly, I think she's terrified of facing James, but -"

"Brilliant, be right back," and Al quietly ran off to the front of the house. The girls turned questioning looks on the other Slytherin.

"We aren't really pranking you this year. James was about to lose his shit so we decided we'd band together for him in solidarity. This is all just a plan to get you out of the way. I didn't think it would work this well, actually," he finished as Al approached them again.

"He's going in," he said, slightly out of breath. They all looked at each other for a moment before quietly creeping back into the patio to watch what was sure to be an entertaining encounter. Rose desperately wanted things to work out for her cousin's sake, but she wasn't above a little snooping. They all crouched beneath the window that looked into the family room.

Violet was currently pacing back and forth along the back of the couch. She suddenly stopped and turned to face the front door after hearing the lock turn. She had her wand gripped at her side, looking apprehensive, and didn't relax her pose at all when James poked his head in. He glanced around before his eyes rested on her and a smile lit up his entire face.

"Hey, Vi," he said in a whisper before coming fully into the house and quietly shutting the door behind him. They just stared at each other for a while, James leaning against the door and Violet relaxing slightly and sitting on the back of the couch, twirling her wand in her hands.

"What are you doing here, James?" she finally asked, unable to bear the silence any longer. Sensing a lessening in her animosity towards him, he pushed himself off the door and took a step closer to her.

"I had to find a way to get you to talk to me, and I didn't trust you to stick around till tomorrow."

The honesty in his words struck Rose, his fears reverberating around the room.

"I almost didn't come tonight, honestly," Violet admitted. "But I refuse to let you damage my relationship with your family. Particularly my best friend, who, unfortunately, happens to be your cousin."

There was a disturbance from the direction of the kitchen. Roxanne and Lucy seemed to have noticed something was going on in the family room and had started to walk through the kitchen door, only for both of them to be dramatically pulled back into the kitchen by Roxy's boyfriend and his brother.

Violet's eyes widened at their abrupt entrance and then subsequent removal before turning to James.

"You planned this, didn't you?" she asked with an almost disbelieving tone to her voice. He had a sheepish expression on his face.

"I really needed to talk to you ,and I didn't see another way."

The door to the kitchen slowly crept open, only about a foot wide this time, to reveal it's occupants. Thankfully, James and Violet were too focused on the tense moment between them to notice, and Rose and her friends were able to signal to them that they needed to stay put. Roxy had a huge grin on her face and winked at them before retreating back into the kitchen, but leaving the door slightly cracked.

James was sighing and running his hands through his hair.

"I know I've screwed up. I realize that now. And it would be bloody brilliant of you if you wouldn't run off and you actually let me talk to you this time."

Violet studied him for a second before nodding and looking down at the floor.

"Vi, I'm so sorry."

She looked up at him, slowly. He spoke with such sincerity that it appeared to have unnerved her. It wasn't like James never apologized, but you were never really sure how much he meant it. But he seemed so vulnerable in that moment, as if the girl in front of him held the ability to make him either the happiest man in the world, or the most miserable soul to ever walk the earth. The truth in his eyes was hard to look at. She barely had time to take in his demeanor before he continued.

"I've always thought I was doing the right thing when it came to you. You're the most incredible person I've ever known, and I would hate to ruin the friendship that we have. I've been talking myself into it for years, actually." He scratched at the stubble on his chin, trying to gather his thoughts.

"Talking yourself into what? Being friends with me?" She had developed a defensive tone at his words. James started to panic, and was quick to try and correct to situation.

"No! Of course not! I mean the opposite, in fact, if that makes sense."

She shot him an uncertain look, not grasping what he was trying the say.

"What I mean is, I had to force myself to just be friends with you. I guess, for a while now, I've fooled myself into thinking that was all I wanted."

Violet stared at him with a hopeful look on her face, giving him the courage to press on.

"I guess what I'm trying to say, is that I didn't want to risk losing you, and I was convinced that you would never feel the same way for me that I do for you. You're brilliant, Vi. The most beautiful, talented, and maddeningly frustrating witch I know, and I can't stand going one day without hearing your voice or seeing your smile. So please, forgive me for being an idiot, a pig, and a coward for far longer than I would ever care to admit."

He watched her expectantly, and Violet let herself begin to smile shyly at him. It seemed like she was about to forgive him, and Rose wasn't planning on blaming her in the slightest. It was as if her cousin had transformed into a man right in front of her eyes. Humbling himself and apologizing, owning up to his own shortcomings, and admitting how much he cared for his best friend was a lot to accomplish in one night.

"I guess I could never stay mad at you forever."

James beamed at her. Rose didn't think she had ever seen her cousin happier.

"Brilliant."

They continued to stand there and smile at each other, neither knowing what to do next. James finally worked up the courage to walk towards her. He stopped when there was roughly a foot between them and spoke in a hushed tone.

"I should have taken you with me, and I'll forever regret that I didn't."

She couldn't meet his eyes and was looking down at her feet as she chewed on her bottom lip, a slight blush on her cheeks.

"I was thrilled when you asked me, you know," she said shyly, glancing up at him briefly. "I knew you only meant it as a friend, but I kind of saw it as my chance."

"You're chance for what?" he asked, a look of hopeful anticipation on his face.

"Are you really going to make me say it first?" she asked with a slight roll of her eyes, finally looking him in the face. He grinned cheekily at her before moving closer and tucking a strand of her long brown hair behind her ear.

"Nah, I think I've already put you through enough, honestly."

Violet smiled at James as he reached out and laced his fingers between hers. She blushed at the gesture, but gripped his hands back all the same.

"I just don't fully get why you never said anything before," he asked.

She shrugged her shoulders.

"Probably the same reason you didn't. I was bloody terrified of losing you. Of course, my stubbornness almost managed to make that happen anyway."

He chuckled at her before replying.

"Well, we'll just have to make sure that doesn't happen again, alright?"

"Alright."

They just stood there, their hands grasped at their sides and staring into each other's eyes. Their lovely moment was interrupted by James' younger sister, who apparently couldn't take it anymore and hollered from somewhere up the stairway.

"Will you bloody kiss her already you great pansy!"

The sound of people shushing each other was heard from up the stairs, and the group out on the patio had a hard time keeping in their giggles as James blushed brilliantly. Violet started laughing and buried her face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, slightly rocking her back and forth.

"I was getting to it!" he hollered back at his sister. Violet still had her face buried in his chest and seemed to be either too nervous or too embarrassed to lift it. James kissed the top of her head before pulling away and leading her out the front door to disappointed groans from the others.

"You buggers are way too nosey!" were his departing words before heading outside for some privacy. They could hear Violet laughing before he closed the door behind them.

Everyone started coming out of their hiding places and gathering in the family room. It appeared that James had required the help of every single one of their male friends to be able to pull this off, but Rose had to admit, his plan had worked out brilliantly in the end.

"If you ask me," Bobby began to a disappointed looking Lily, "I'm rather grateful I didn't have to witness your brother snogging my sister."

Everyone laughed and even Lily managed to see the humor in the situation as she started to suggest ways they could still spy on them, before something else that she considered far more pressing caught her attention.

"I don't think so!" she yelled as Hugo, Louis, and Caleb began to make themselves at home on the various pieces of furniture.

"Lily, come on,' Louis began, "we're here now. Might as well make ourselves comfortable."

Lily huffed at them and turned to Rose, Erin, Scorpius, and Albus, who all looked very pleased.

"So, you lot all knew, then?"

Rose knew she had to tread lightly here. While Lily had wonderful relationships with both of her brothers, she tended to resent Rose for how close she was with them as well. Rose could understand how she felt, though. She had the same insecurities about Lily's relationship with Hugo.

"It just came up the one afternoon, when you and Hugo went to Diagon Alley that day after lunch," Al jumped in with the save.

Lily seemed to accept this excuse and resumed her cheerful demeanor before going to join Caleb as he looked through the movie collection. Rose shot Albus a grateful look. He understood the complicated dynamics of Rose and Lily's relationship all too well, having been the subject matter of more than one of their arguments.

Most of the others seemed to be gossiping about the new development between their two friends. Fred appeared to be describing the night's events in vivid detail and had Dom and Eva laughing along with Lysander and Roxanne as Lorcan tried to jump in with the story of what had actually occurred. Erin and Scorpius had wandered off after Lily had approached and were gathering food from the dining room for everyone.

"I can't believe the idiot actually pulled this off," Al chuckled quietly as he and Rose stood side-by-side, taking in their surroundings.

"You and me both," Rose agreed with her cousin. "I can't imagine how this is going to affect the dynamics of things either."

"What do you mean?" Al questioned.

"Just that," Rose began, unsure how to explain what exactly she did mean, "when you throw feelings and new emotions and relationships into an already established environment, things are bound to change."

Al nodded his head with a contemplative look on his face.

"Yeah, sure. But not in a bad way, right?" He looked hopeful as he asked the question. "I mean," he continued, "that is to say, if things work out, it can be for the better, right? Change happens all the time, and not all of it's bad. It's inevitable, so why not embrace it when it comes? We'd all be a lot better off that way, I think."

Rose looked at her cousin. Al always managed to surprise her with his ability to be so insightful on occasion, but she wasn't sure why. She knew he was smart, and very intuitive, but he rarely let it show. Take Herbology, for example. He was always complaining about how horrible he was at it, but she was willing to bet he wasn't as bad as he made himself out to be.

"I suppose you're right," she said with a small smile as Al watched their best friends make their way back into the dining room for more food.

"Another thing that's changing," she continued, and Al turned to look at her in interest, "is Roxanne and Lorcan's living arrangements."

Al's eyebrows shot up and he looked at his cousin, whose boyfriend had his arms wrapped protectively around her middle as she leaned back against his chest. They looked blissful.

"Well, that's brilliant. Cheers to them, then," he said with a crooked grin and a far off look in his eyes. He didn't seem quite like himself, but before Rose could ask him what was on his mind, he spoke again.

"I think I'd like that someday, you know?"

"Like what?" Rose asked.

Al nodded his head towards his cousin and her boyfriend, but didn't elaborate any further. Rose was surprised by this. Al had gone on his fair share of dates and had even gone out with Mandy Jordan for a short period of time in their fifth year, but he hadn't shown any special interest in a girl since then.

"Really?" she asked, a smile creeping onto her face.

He noticed her expression and rolled his eyes before shrugging his shoulders. Rose was about to question him further before the door suddenly burst open and Alice Longbottom walked in, closely followed by James and Violet. The latter two were holding hands and looked

concerned as Alice's eyes scanned the room for her siblings. She found Ethan standing against the back of the couch in conversation with Bobby and Lucy about their upcoming O.W.L. year. He looked alarmed at his older sister's sudden presence.

"Alice?" he asked, walking toward her and gripping her arms as if to hold her up. She looked as though she could collapse from exhaustion at any moment.

"Where's Erin?" she asked in a rough voice. Erin chose the next moment to walk back in from the dining room with Scorpius by her side. She had been laughing, but her face immediately dropped at the presence of her sister.

"Ally? What's going on?"

By the shake in her voice, Rose could tell she was terrified to hear her sister's answer.

"It's Gran."

* * *

 **A/N: Hello! Longest time I've gone without updating. It's been a busy few weeks! I think this is the first cliffhanger-ish thing I've done so far. I'll probably be able to keep updating consistently for a while but I'm catching up to all the chapters I have written so we'll see! I actually started developing an idea for another story as well. It would be a post hogwarts scorose but a different universe from this one. Who knows where it'll lead but I'm excited about it at the moment :) Thanks for the new follows and favorites! It'd be great if you'd review when you do that as well!**

 **P.S. I know it should be "a lot" and not "alot" in the chapter title, but I was one character shy from the chapter title I wanted so I fudged it a little ;) Anyone know the song it's from? Or what any of the chapter title are from?**


	7. So never mind the darkness

Rose only slept for a few hours that night. No one else had felt like leaving after the Longbottoms left. Staying together made them feel like they were somehow able to still be there for their friends, despite their absence. A few people had wandered off to sleep in the bedrooms, but many had ended up crashing on the various surfaces in the living room.

It was half past six the following morning, and Rose couldn't have slept any longer if she'd wanted to. She had gotten up, made herself a cup of tea, and was now sitting out on the patio, the windows open and a breeze coming in as the sun started to rise over the rolling hills in the distance. There was a light sprinkling of rain that made the air smell fresher.

Rose hadn't heard anything from Erin yet. She hadn't heard from her parents either, and she wasn't sure they were even aware of the situation. They had gone out with Harry and Ginny the previous evening, and they were all expected to return to the manor by ten o'clock to prep for lunch and the Quidditch match. She wasn't even sure if that would all be happening now. It felt wrong to just go about her day knowing her best friend could be grieving.

She closed her eyes as she cradled her tea in her hands, enjoying the warmth that seeped into her fingers as she leaned back in the wicker chair with her feet up on the coffee table. The breeze from outside had a chill in it that was odd for that time of year, but Rose assumed it had something to do with the rain. She'd only worn shorts and a tank top as pajamas the night before and was thankful she had thought to grab the button up flannel shirt that had been lying across the back of the couch. She assumed one of the boys had discarded it the previous evening.

Rose was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of the patio door creaking open and the soft pad of bare feet moving towards her. She wasn't too surprised to see the bright red hair of her cousin Molly. She had it pulled up in a messy bun on the top of her head, and she looked like she hadn't slept at all. Her eyes and nose were red, and she kept sniffling as she sat on the loveseat with her own mug of tea, pulling an afghan over her legs.

Rose watched her younger cousin for a moment. Molly had always been the most sensitive of all the cousins. She and Lucy were both rather quiet and reserved, but Lucy had a tougher shell. Molly was the type of person to cry at the birth of a child, or the sight of a puppy. She had a natural disposition to be empathetic to those around her. Rose wasn't shocked to see her in her current state. She also knew her cousin well enough to realize she needed to process her emotions, and a bit of a heart to heart was the best way to do that.

"Did you sleep at all?" Rose asked in a soft voice. Molly just shook her head slightly and took a sip of her tea. They remained in silence for a few moments before Molly finally spoke up.

"You know, when Mum's dad died, I thought it was the saddest I could ever feel. It was the first time I had ever experienced loss so clearly. But I was only eight when Grandpa died. What's that compared to what Alice and Erin and Ethan are dealing with right now? They've all shared more than twice that many years with their great grandmother. I can't imagine what type of void that will leave when she…"

Molly let her sentence trail off, unsure how to voice what they knew, in all likelihood, would be happening soon. Rose chose to believe that no news was good news, but she knew it would only last for so long.

"I know Erin is especially close with her, Rose. And I know she has a hard time expressing and accepting her emotions." Rose let out a small smile at how easy her best friend was to read.

"I know this will be hard on her," Molly continued, "but I don't want us to forget that it'll be hard on the others as well. Alice has had a hard time of it since she left Hogwarts. She hasn't been loving her job at the Ministry, and Ethan…" she paused for a moment and looked as if she might start crying, and not for the first time, Rose gathered.

"He's just finished school, and he's so excited to start Auror training. This is going to be hard on the whole family."

Her words were not a surprise at all. Molly always managed to think of everyone. She saw the whole forest and not just the trees like Rose was prone to do. She actively cared for other people and went out of her way to make sure the unincluded were brought into the fold, and the forgotten remembered.

"We'll take care of them, Molly. We always take care of our own."

Molly finally looked over at Rose and gave her a watery smile before her eyes dropped down to take in Rose's attire.

"Are you two dating, then?" she asked.

Rose looked at her questioningly, not sure who she was asking about or why. Molly answered part of her question by nodding towards the shirt she was wearing.

"That's Scorpius', isn't it? I could have sworn he was wearing it last night."

Rose looked in surprise at the shirt she wore. She hadn't even realized, but now that she thought about it, she noticed Molly was right. The thought made her happier than she thought appropriate. Rose struggled to come up with an explanation, even though it was a simple one.

"I've seen boyfriends give girlfriends their shirts before. Victoire wears Teddy's all the time, so I just wondered," Molly explained before taking another sip of her tea. Rose finally found her voice.

"No, we're not. I just found it on the back of the couch. I knew it would be chilly out here."

Molly accepted this answer. She wasn't overly inquisitive like Lucy, who could badger you for hours about a single topic.

They sat together in silence for a quarter of an hour before they heard the sound of Apparition from out front around seven o'clock. They both hurried to their feet and into the house, desperate for some form of news. They entered just in time to see their aunt Ginny doing the same. She looked exhausted, but the just gotten out of bed kind, rather than the up all night look that Rose and Molly were sporting. Ginny gave them both a sad smile as they entered the room.

"Morning, girls," she said in a whisper just as Al walked out of the kitchen.

"Hello, sweetheart," she said as she turned and greeted her son. He didn't look like he had gotten much sleep either. Last night, he and Scorpius had gone up to his room after sitting with Rose in the guest room she'd claimed till almost three in the morning. Rose wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't slept much more than she had.

"Hey, Mum. Any news?" Al asked as he handed her a cup of tea.

Ginny gave him a sad smile as tears gathered in her eyes and she rested her free hand on her son's cheek.

"Yeah.." she said in a shaky voice. Al closed his eyes as the implication of his mother's demeanor hit him, and he pulled her into his arms in a firm hug. Rose and Molly clung to each other as well, silent tears flowing from every eye. Augusta Longbottom may have lived a long and full life, but that didn't make the loss much easier. She was dearly loved by all who knew her, and Rose would miss the old woman's brash demeanor.

Eventually, Ginny managed to regain her composure and pulled back from her son, wiping her eyes and taking a calming sip of tea.

"Your dad is with Neville, helping sort out the details. The kids are helping Hannah with things at the inn. They can't exactly close during the summer."

"You're serious?" Al asked, looking somewhat upset by this news. "Isn't there anyone else that can step in?"

"They've been understaffed all summer. And honestly, I think Hannah just wants to keep herself busy, and you know Erin's exactly the same way."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Molly asked through her tears.

"I'm not sure," Ginny responded. "For now, just be prepared to be there for them. They're going to need you. All of you."

Al squeezed his mother into his side, his arm still around her shoulders. He heaved a heavy sigh before letting go and turning to head upstairs.

"Well, looks like you lot had quite the slumber party," Ginny commented, taking in all the people scattered around her family room. Rose couldn't help but let out a small chuckle as she took in the scene. Lily and Charlotte were sleeping top and tail on one of the couches, with Louis and Caleb doing the same on the one across from them. Lucy, Jill, Eva, and Dom were all spread out on the floor. Hugo and Bobby occupied an armchair each.

"James and the other boys all crashed in his room, and Roxy and Violet are in Lily's," Rose told her aunt. Ginny nodded her head in recognition of her words, and then began to pick up all of the discarded food and trash. They could hear movement coming from upstairs, and Rose quickly discarded what she now knew to be Scorpius's shirt, laying it in its previous position on the couch. She and Molly set about helping Ginny and soon enough, others began to stir. By eight-thirty, everyone in the house was up and had eaten breakfast. Harry came home to find most of them still seated around the dining room table, and filled them in on the details. The funeral would take place the following weekend.

"I'm sure most of you aren't even feeling up to it by the look of things," Harry continued, "but I think it's best if we put Quidditch off. At least till later in the summer. Agreed?"

Everyone nodded their heads in assent. Al looked around the table, catching the eyes of all the boys. He gave them a nod, then stood as the rest followed.

"We're heading over to the Leaky," he announced to his parents.

"All of you?" Harry asked skeptically. "Don't you think that's a lot of visitors to have at once, especially at a time like this?"

"We're not going to visit, Dad," James chimed in. "We're going to work." He bent down to press a quick peck to Violet's lips - who blushed violently at the public display of affection - and followed his younger brother out of the room. Harry had a look of pride on his face as he watched the boys trail out of the house. The only ones to stay behind were Bobby and Hugo, who explained that they were going to make sure the house was put back in order.

"We ate most of your food, Aunt Ginny, so we figured you and some of the girls would need to make a run to the market, and we didn't want to saddle you with all the work here as well," Hugo elaborated.

"That's lovely, dear," Ginny said absentmindedly. She was in the middle of questioning who she assumed was now her eldest son's new girlfriend. Harry was focused on Violet and his wife, a grin growing on his face.

Later in the evening, the food had been replenished and the house had been put back in order. Ron and Hermione came over with dinner for everyone. Violet and Bobby had gone home to see their parents and siblings, as they were close with Hannah and Neville as well. Charlotte was Muggle-born, so Harry had taken her home by side-along after lunch. Dom and Eva had gone to check in on the boys, Ethan in particular, and hadn't come back.

"You should be proud of your boys, Ginny," Hermione said over dinner. "We stopped by the Leaky earlier to see if Hannah needed anything, and those young men had it all under control. Al was barking orders from the kitchen, and James was making sure everything got covered out front. It was brilliant."

Ginny looked thrilled that they were doing such a wonderful job of stepping up. Neville was Al's godfather after all. They had always had a close bond, not to mention his close friendship with Erin.

"Ethan's really been pulling his weight as well," Ron chimed in. "He was helping Neville get all the details in order and didn't seem like he planned on stopping anytime soon. We actually got Neville to agree to a nap, seeing as Ethan had everything under control."

"I've been impressed by Ethan too," Harry added. "I offered to let him start Auror training a week later since Monday's the firsts day, but he wouldn't hear it. Says his Gran would of kicked his arse if he did something like that."

There was general amusement around the table at this statement. Even Molly, who had been having a hard time not crying all day, let out a light chuckle.

A commotion was heard at the front door, and most of the boys who had left for the Leaky Cauldron that morning filed into the house, and to everyone's surprise, Erin was with them. Rose jumped up to embrace her best friend with tears in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Erin," she whispered as she held her.

"I'm alright," was all Erin mumbled in return. Rose pulled back to look at her. She seemed almost void of all emotion, and she didn't even look close to crying. Her wavy blond hair didn't look like it had seen a brush since the previous morning. Rose glanced at Al. He had a concerned look on his face as he stood next to Erin, watching her.

"Are you all hungry or did you eat there?" Ginny called from the dining room.

"I'm starving, actually," said Erin, and she made to join the others eating dinner.

Rose turned to Al with a question on her face as Scorpius joined them while the rest of the boys headed in to eat.

"She's not okay, is she?" Rose asked.

Al shook his head as he continued to watch Erin, who was acting as if nothing had happened in the past twenty-four hours to cause her any pain.

"I don't think it's hit her yet," Scorpius said. "When we showed up, we sent them all to get some sleep, and I haven't seen her bat an eye since she got up. She was a bit of a mess when we got there, though. Not crying, mind, but extremely out of it."

Rose knew it was going to be a hard road for her friend, and she wasn't sure how they were going to help her get through it.

* * *

The boys continued to help out at the pub everyday the following week, and before they knew it, the funeral had come and gone and life would be going back to normal, or as normal as it could for the Longbottom family. Molly and Arthur had hosted the wake at the Burrow, giving Hannah a much needed break from hosting duties. Erin had stayed stoic all week, and Rose had yet to see her shed a tear. The most emotion she'd shown was when she snapped at Al for asking how she was doing one too many times.

They had decided to have the annual friends and family gathering and Quidditch match the week before they were to leave for Hogwarts. James was back in training full time, and his first match would be the day before they left, but he'd managed to secure the weekend off so he could participate.

Rose was starting to get antsy roughly two weeks before term started. Their Hogwarts letters were due any day, and the suspense was killing her. Not only was she having her usual nerves about her grades, but she was dying to know if she had been chosen as Head Girl. Professor McGonagall had hinted as much, but she had no guarantee. More than she wanted to know her fate, she was praying to Merlin that Scorpius would be Head Boy. She felt he truly deserved it, and it would mean the world to him to see someone other than his closest friends place so much faith in him.

She was in the middle of her usual morning routine, sitting on her porch swing with a book in her lap and trying to read despite the many thoughts running sprints around her mind, when she noticed an owl coming over the trees on the edge of their property.

She got up and went into the house, yelling for her brother.

"Hugo! Hugh, wake up! Our letters are here!"

She had made it up the stairs and was now banging on his door.

"You do realize I don't care nearly as much as you do, right?" he hollered back in a groggy voice.

"I don't really care right now," she responded with an edge of panic in her voice. "Mum and Dad aren't here, and I can't do this on my own."

"Can't do what? Open a letter? You do this every summer, Rose! Why are you so worked up?"

She knew he was protesting, but she could also hear him getting out of bed and wandering around his room. He finally opened his door to reveal his disheveled appearance. His dark red hair was sticking up in all directions, and his T-shirt was on inside out. He rubbed his eyes before looking at his sister's pleading expression.

"Don't worry, I'm coming," he grumbled, and followed her downstairs. They arrived in the kitchen just in time to see the owl swoop in through the open window above the sink.

Rose stood gripping the back of one of the kitchen chairs as her brother took their letters from the owl before it flew off again. She watched him weigh them in his hands, testing to see if hers held the desired Head Girl pin. He looked up at her, unsure of what to say.

"They don't feel that much different from each other, to be honest," he said sadly. Rose's face fell, and she moved forward to grab the envelope. She tore it open and pulled the parchment out, hearing something drop onto the kitchen table. Her breath caught, and she looked at her brother, who had yet to open his own letter. He was looking back and forth between the pin that had fallen on the table and the letter in his hand. Rose finally looked down to see a silver and gold badge with the words _Head Girl_ shining on it. She grinned before looking back at Hugo, who stood staring at his letter in puzzlement before it seemed to dawn on him.

"No way…" he said softly, before opening his own letter, much more carefully than his sister had. He pulled a red and gold pin out that was in the shape of a P with a confused look on his face. Rose just grinned more brightly.

"That's brilliant, Hugo! Congratulations!"

He continued to stare at the badge in his hand.

"Yeah… I guess so." A grin started to grow on his face, and he looked at his sister with a disbelieving expression. "I can't say I was exactly expecting that."

"Come on Hugh, you're brilliant. They'd be fools not to make you prefect."

Hugo just shrugged his shoulders and started looking through his list of school supplies as well as his exam scores from the previous year.

"I didn't do too bad, I guess," and he handed his results to his sister. He didn't have anything below an Acceptable.

Rose placed his on the table and pulled out her own exam results. She didn't have anything under an Acceptable either, and that was only in History of Magic. She never tried as hard in that class. Not only was it rather dull, but so many topics had to do with her family. You would think this would make her an expert in the subject, but it just made her slack off in most of the other topics that they covered since she could just make it up in the areas that she knew by heart.

"I was going to meet up with Bobby, Louis, and Caleb in Diagon Alley today and pick up our stuff," said Hugo. "You want to come?"

"I have to see Scorpius."

He looked at her quizzically. She'd said it without thinking and a little too eagerly for her taste.

"And Al and Erin too," she was quick to add. "They'll want to know I've been made Head Girl. Hopefully Scorpius was as well. Made Head Boy, I mean," she rattled off, feeling slightly nervous under her brother's stare.

"Right," he said, a smirk growing on his face. "I'm just gonna go get ready, then."

He turned to go upstairs before turning around and walking back over to his sister, pulling her into a hug. He was a good head taller than her now, so he lifted her slightly off her feet as he gripped her. Rose laughed at the rare display of sibling affection from her brother.

"I'm so proud of you, sis," he said as he plopped her back down on the floor. Rose laughed again as Hugo let go and stepped away. She slugged him lightly on the arm.

"I'm proud of you too, bro."

He chuckled at her before ruffling her hair and hurrying up the stairs.

She was about to get ready herself, when she was distracted by the sound of the fireplace bursting into life. Rose entered the living room just in time to see a male figure tumbling out. The Slytherin stood and dusted himself off. It seemed he had forgotten to change out of his pajamas in his haste to get there. He looked up and noticed Rose standing in the kitchen doorway. She had a good idea as to why he had shown up at her house unexpectedly. Rose hadn't been able to stop smiling since she'd opened her letter, and his presence just solidified the smile on her face. She was certain she wouldn't be able to stop grinning all day. He took in her incredibly joyful demeanor before a brilliant smile graced his handsome face.

"Well," he said with a cheeky smirk and his hands on his hips, "aren't you doing to greet your new Head Boy?"

* * *

 **A/N: Hope you liked the chapter! Follow, Favorite, and Review! Here's the Tree I promised. I was asked to include relationships and crushes, but I'm only revealing things we already know. You'll have to wait and see the rest for yourselves :) Any theories or predictions so far? I'd love to hear them!**

Teddy Lupin - 25, son of Remus and Nymphadora Lupin, grandson of Andromeda Tonks, engaged to Victoire Weasley, Gryffindor.

Victoire Weasley - 23, daughter of Bill and Fleur Weasley, sister of Dom and Louis, engaged to Teddy Lupin, best friends with Alice Longbottom, Ravenclaw.

Alice Longbottom - 22, daughter of Neville and Hannah Longbottom, sister of Ethan and Erin, best friends with Victoire, Ravenclaw.

Fred Weasley - 19, son of George and Angelina Weasley, twin brother of Roxanne, roommate and best friends with James Potter and Lysander Scamander, Gryffindor.

James Potter - 19, son of Harry and Ginny Potter, roommate and best friends with Fred and Lysander, dating Violet Finnigan, Gryffindor.

Roxanne Weasley - 19, daughter of George and Angelina Weasley, twin sister of Fred Weasley, best friends with and dating Lorcan Scamander, best friends with Violet Finnigan, Gryffindor.

Lorcan Scamander - 19, son of Rolf and Luna Scamander, twin brother of Lysander, best friends with and dating Roxanne Weasley, Ravenclaw.

Lysander Scamander - 19, son of Rolf and Luna, twin of Lorcan, best friends and roommates with Fred and James, Ravenclaw.

Violet Finnigan - 19, daughter of Seamus and Lavender Finnigan, older sister of Bobby, Sean, Bella, and Layla Finnigan, best friend and former roommate of Roxanne Weasley, dating James Potter (yay!), Gryffindor.

Dominique Weasley - 18, daughter of Bill and Fleur Weasley, sister of Victoire and Louis, best friends with Eva Wood and Ethan Longbottom, Gryffindor.

Eva Wood - 18, daughter of Oliver and Katie Wood, older sister of Caleb Wood, best friends with Dominique Weasley and Ethan Longbottom, Gryffindor.

Ethan Longbottom - 18, son of Neville and Hannah Longbottom, brother of Alice and Erin, best friends with Dom and Eva, Gryffindor.

Albus Potter - 17, son of Harry and Ginny, brother of James and Lily, best friends with Rose, Erin, and Scorpius, Slytherin.

Scorpius Malfoy - 17, son of Draco and Astoria, best friends with Al, Rose, and Erin, Slytherin.

Rose Weasley - 17, daughter of Ron and Hermione, sister of Hugo, best friends of Scorpius, Erin, and Al, has feelings for the Malfoy boy, Gryffindor.

Erin Longbottom - 17, daughter of Hannah and Neville, sister of Ethan and Alice, you know the drill by now so see the three above for best friends, Gryffindor.

Louis Weasley - 16, son of Bill and Fleur, brother of Dom and Victoire, best friends with Caleb Wood, suspected of having a crush on Jill Boot, Gryffindor.

Caleb Wood - 16, son of Oliver and Katie, brother of Eva, best friends with Louis, Gryffindor.

Jill Boot - 16, son of Terry and Lisa Boot, only child, best friends with Molly Weasley, Ravenclaw.

Molly Weasley - 16, daughter of Percy and Audrey, sister of Lucy, best friends with Jill Boot, Ravenclaw.

Lily Potter - 15, daughter of Harry and Ginny, sister of Al and James, best friends with Hugo Weasley, though spends a lot of time with Lucy, Charlotte, and Bobby, Gryffindor.

Lucy Weasley - 15, daughter of Percy and Audrey, sister of Molly, best friends with Charlotte and spends a lot of time with Lily, Hugo, and Bobby, might have a thing for Bobby Finnigan, Hufflepuff.

Charlotte Bray - 15, daughter of Charles and Anna Bray (Muggles), younger sister of Malcolm (wizard), and triplet of Caroline and Catherine (muggles), best friends with Lucy, spends a lot of time with Hugo, Bobby, and Lily, Hufflepuff.

Hugo Weasley - 15, son of Ron and Hermione, brother of Rose, best friends with Bobby and Lily, Gryffindor.

Bobby Finnigan - 15, son of Seamus and Lavender, brother of Violet, Sean, Bella, and Layla, best friends with Hugo, Gryffindor.

 **There are definitely other characters mentioned throughout the story and some you haven't met yet, but these are the ones that matter most right now. We won't see a lot of some of the older siblings but they'll be talked about so it's helpful to know. I posted the first chapter of a James/Violet story I'm working on so check that out! It's called** ** _Fight or Flight._** **I will probably explore this universe more through other chapter stories or one shots. I've got a lot planned out in my head already. Thanks for listening to me ramble. Happy reading!**


	8. But what goes up must come down

Everyone was ecstatic for Rose and Scorpius, and the cloud that had hung over the families due to the recent loss was lessened amidst all of the excitement. After going to see Rose, Scorpius went with her to the Potters' to tell Al, who wasn't surprised in the least. The newly appointed Head Boy informed his friends- along with Ginny and Lily - that his parents had offered to have an informal get together in celebration the following day, which happened to be a Friday night.

"Mum knows that you've had a lot going on with being there for Neville and his family, and it's rare that you ever come over, so she wanted me to extend the invitation. And she said she'd especially want to do one if we both got it. She actually already Floo called your mum at work, Rose, and she seemed fine with it. I know it's last minute and all and it's probably inconvenient, not to mention likely to be embarrassing. My mum is an expert at making an unnecessary fuss over me, but I think she'd really appreciate it if you came, so yeah..."

He seemed nervous as he rambled, though Rose wasn't sure why. She'd actually never been to Malfoy Manor, but Albus had spent a decent amount of time there. Rose had been invited, but her mother had always given her a reason that she couldn't go whenever she'd asked if she could. She was slightly suspicious of this behaviour, but she also knew that her mother genuinely liked Scorpius. Her father even seemed to have a soft spot for him. Seeing as her mother had given her consent this time, it seemed as if Rose didn't have any reason to be suspicious at all.

Ginny assured Scorpius that they would love to come, while he communicated that anyone they wanted to invite was welcome. This led to the majority of the Potter/Weasley collective showing up at Malfoy Manor that Friday night. Rose was giddy with excitement and Hugo was grumbling about how hungry he was as they walked up to the front entrance. She couldn't help but notice, however, that both of her parents seemed slightly on edge as they followed their children. All of this fled her mind the moment she saw Scorpius open the door.

He was dressed in Muggle attire: dark wash jeans, a soft, gray jumper, and a pair of black socks on his feet. Rose couldn't remember ever seeing him look quite as comfortable as he did when he welcomed them into his home. He looked slightly nervous as he greeted her parents, though, and Hermione gave him a reassuring smile as she began to relax in his presence. Ron still seemed rather stoic, but shook his hand in a firm, yet friendly grip, along with a pat on the back. Scorpius breathed a sigh of relief as Hugo and Rose's parents moved forward into the house and were greeted by Draco and Astoria.

"Relax, will you," Rose said reassuringly. "Our mothers love each other, and our fathers can put up with their differences for one evening. They've done it before."

Scorpius fidgeted slightly with his sleeves in an agitated manner before letting out a puff of air as if he had been holding his breath the whole time.

"You're right," he said, as he ran his hands through his hair in an attempt to calm his nerves. "That's not exactly what I'm worried about, though."

She was about to ask what he meant when the doorbell rang and he was forced to return to his duties as host. The Potters made their entrance as Rose turned to join her family in what looked like a parlor or family room. She had to pass the closed door of another room before she reached it, and she only gave a momentary thought as to where it led. She was sure this house was filled with an abundance of rooms as well as a secret or two.

As she moved towards her family, she noticed her father, Hugo, and Draco examining an exquisite marble chess set in a corner of the room, while her mother looked to be in a serious conversation with Astoria. Rose could swear she saw tears threaten to form in her mother's eyes before she smiled and embraced Astoria firmly. The women broke apart and noticed Rose walking towards them, looking concerned.

Astoria waved her hand as if to tell her to disregard the emotional state that both women seemed to be in.

"You'll have to excuse us, dear," Mrs. Malfoy began. "Our babies are growing up so fast."

Rose let out a sigh of relief that it wasn't something serious. Apparently their mothers were just having a maternal moment.

"Well, you've still got Hugo to worry about, Mum. Don't go thinking you'll get rid of him so easily. He won't go anywhere as long as you continue to feed him."

The women shared a laugh at this as the Potters entered the room, followed by a host of more Weasleys. The girls were all quick to rush Rose in congratulations.

"Please, please tell me you'll let me visit you in the Heads' common room," Lily begged. "I've always wanted to see it. I've heard it has a direct line to the kitchens and you always have an assortment of food available."

Rose laughed at her cousin's enthusiasm. Lily may be tiny, but she could challenge Hugo when it came to who could put away more food.

"You'll have such a nice, quiet place to study for your N.E.W.T.s. You're so lucky." Molly looked like she had never been more jealous of anything in the world.

Lucy started asking questions as well, and it got to the point where they were all talking over each other. The most common theme among their questions seemed to be the privileges that would be extended to them with Rose's new position, especially the use of the common room.

"I can't promise anything," Rose spoke over them, gaining their full attention. "I share the room, you know. I'll have to ask Scorpius what he thinks. By the way, Luce, I heard you made prefect as well. Congratulations!"

Lucy blushed and expressed her thanks.

"You know," Lily said with an eager look on her face, changing back to the previous topic. "Roxanne told me once that Lorcan and his co-head each gave the password to one other person. He gave it to her and the Head Girl gave it to her boyfriend. But I'm sure you could give it to a friend or, say, a cousin instead."

Rose gave her a crooked grin.

"Well then, seeing as neither of us have significant others, we'll have to make other arrangements."

They all looked at her in anticipation and she rolled her eyes.

"You honestly think I'd just pick one of you with you all staring at me like that? Doesn't it make more sense that we'd give it to Erin and Al anyway?"

They all deflated at this, and Lily looked like she was about to argue before Molly changed the subject.

"Ethan told me that the common room was a mix of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw colors last year to represent the two Heads' houses. I guess yours will be Gryffindor and Slytherin! I wonder when that happened last."

They continued to discuss all the different prospects of Rose's duties and the next year in general when Erin and Ethan showed up. Rose was pleased to see her best friend looking so well, even though she had yet to show any visible signs of grieving. Ethan looked a little haggard, but he had recently begun Auror training as well, so that came as no surprise.

Erin greeted Al and Scorpius as Harry and Hugo approached Ethan. Rose's younger brother had always looked up to Ethan. They were vastly different, but they both had an eye for strategy and could spend hours sitting across from each other with a chessboard between them. It was one of the places that Hugo was most likely to open up, so Ethan had gotten to know him relatively well. She turned and noticed that her father and Draco were having what looked to be a very serious conversation in a secluded corner of the room as they both kept glancing at their wives. The women both appeared to have regained their composer, though her mother seemed to not quite be her usual, poised self. She was distracted from her observations by two arms engulfing her from behind.

"Cheers, Rosie!" Erin greeted her friend as she gripped her in an exuberant hug. Rose laughed at Erin's enthusiasm before stepping away to turn and grin at her.

"Thanks, Erin. Part of me still can't quite wrap my head around it."

Erin scoffed. "Come off it, Rosie. You knew you were going to get it. You were probably more worried that Scorpius wouldn't. Lord knows you would have cried if it had gone to someone else."

Rose willed herself not to blush. "I was also referring to the fact that we're actually seventh years now. And quite the opposite, actually. I was almost positive it would be him. But I guess you're right, I would have hated not to be able to do it with him if only one of us got it. I also think we'll work very well together. We'll be efficient, a well oiled machine by the end of the first term. I know it."

Erin chuckled at how seriously her friend took anything to do with her education, even if it was extracurricular. But it was one of the things she loved about Rose, so she wasn't about to mock her for it.

"Well, I'm happy for you both. It seems like everyone else is as well. Quite a show they've put on for the two of you."

Rose took in their surroundings and noticed the decor for the first time. A gold and silver banner hung above the food table at the back of the room that read Congratulations to the New Head Boy & Girl. There were streamers lining the walls and balloons tied to random pieces of furniture.

The other girls had wandered off to talk to various people. Lily was with Al and Scorpius, while Louis, Lucy, and Hugo started in on the food and Molly talked to Ethan and Teddy. Apparently he had arrived with Victoire when Rose wasn't paying attention. Her eldest cousin was now talking with all of the mothers in the room, most likely about wedding details.

Rose decided to take the opportunity of having a moment alone with her friend to see if she could get her to share how she was managing the recent hand she'd been dealt. Brushing off questions had been her go to move all week.

"So," Rose began tentatively, "how're you holding up?"

"Oh," Erin quickly waved her off, "I'm fantastic. Shall we say hello to your aunt Audrey? She always gives me a laugh." She walked off towards the tall, slender brunette and Rose sighed in defeat.

While she hadn't looked well the first few days after Augusta Longbottom's passing, Erin now seemed very well put together. Her shoulder length, wavy blonde hair was half pulled back and well groomed, and she was dressed in a floral skirt and navy tank top. The only real difference Rose noticed was in her eyes. They weren't quite as lively as they used to be. Rose had yet to get Erin to open up at all since her great-grandmother's passing. She had asked how she was on a few occasions in an effort to get her to talk, but she had so far been unsuccessful in her attempts. The only real positive that she noticed was a renewed closeness between all of the Longbottom siblings, Erin and Alice in particular. Rose knew Alice would have been at Malfoy Manor as well if she wasn't helping her mother out at the inn.

Deciding to give up her attempts to get Erin to talk as a bad job, she went to join the rest of the party, meeting Teddy's eyes across the room. He broke away from his conversation and approach her, giving her a brotherly hug and an affectionate noogie.

They weren't related by blood, but Teddy had been a part of the family her whole life. She didn't know what her family was like without him. He had developed a relationship with the Malfoy's over the years as well. His grandmother had reached out to her sister after the war, and the two had made strides to mend their broken relationship. It was never the same as it had been when they were young, but Andromeda wanted Teddy to know his family, especially after losing his parents.

Teddy had become something of an older brother to Scorpius over the years. It helped to solidify the bond between the two of them when Albus and Scorpius met once they started Hogwarts. He was over at the Potter's all the time, and when Teddy, James, Al, and Scorpius got together, it tended to spell trouble. While Teddy tried to show some responsibility, the younger boys always managed to bring out the child in him. Rose vividly remembered one day during the summer after her first year when a rather rambunctious game of indoor keep away got slightly out of hand. James had suggested that they add an extra Quaffle and Bludgers to the equation, and Rose and Lily retreated upstairs at that point, scared for their safety. The harsh scolding given by Ginny Potter - the sound of which had carried up the stairs - had scared Rose into never doing anything that would cause her aunt to yell at her in that way.

"Congrats, Rosie. I always knew you had it in you," Teddy said joyfully. Rose laughed as she threw her cousin off.

"Thanks, Ted. I suppose it runs in the family."

Teddy had been Head Boy during his final year at Hogwarts, and he was now positively beaming at Rose. She wasn't sure if it was with pride, or if he was just deliriously happy with life in general. It had taken him awhile to get his spunk back after the passing of his grandmother, but now that wedding planning was in full swing and they had a date set, he seemed like his old self. His hair had remained black for months, but it was now his trademark turquoise.

"And who'd have thought that both of my cousins would be heads together. Knowing you both, I think you'll make a spectacular team."

Rose thanked him again before asking how things were going in the Auror department.

"Not bad. The hours aren't the greatest at the moment, but my squad partners are a laugh, so that makes things better when we're working long hours into the night."

"Do you interact with the trainees at all?"

"Oh yes," he chuckled. "We get to go up against them during some training exercises roughly once a week. Ethan's been doing a bang up job, actually. You wouldn't think it if you knew him based on his demeanor, so I was pleasantly surprised. He does look cut out for it, though."

Rose noticed that Ethan did look like he had filled out a little since starting his training. He had always had a lean build, but his arms and chest seemed to be more solid. He caught them watching him and excused himself from his conversation with Percy before making his way over.

"Hope you're not spreading lies about me, Lupin. I'll have you know, Rose, that I'm top of my class at the moment."

Rose looked at Ethan in delighted surprise. His closely cropped brown hair still had a slight coife to it that was becoming, and his green eyes sparkled with life. He wasn't normally this confident, or cheeky for that matter. Teddy looked slightly surprised as well, but chuckled at the young man.

"No worries, Longbottom. I would never do such a thing."

Ethan seems satisfied with his answer and turned to Rose.

"I don't think I got to congratulate you yet, Rose. Speaking as a former Head, I'm sure you're more than up to the task."

"I hope so. How've you been doing? I know you've had a lot to deal with all at once."

His smile faltered and the light in his eyes deadened, but only slightly.

"I'm holding it together. Erin's not taking it well, though you probably know that. She hasn't even talked about it really. But I'm glad I have work to distract me. Keeps my mind off it."

Rose gave him an understanding smile as Teddy gripped his shoulder. Ethan looked grateful for their support.

"So you're enjoying training?" Rose asked.

He shrugged his shoulders, his troubles already forgotten and genuinely excited about the work he was doing.

"Can't complain really. Not only am I actually enjoying it, but I can't exactly speak ill of the man in charge, can I?"

Rose and Teddy laughed.

"Don't worry. I think he's out of earshot."

"Who is, Ted?" asked the man himself, coming up behind Ethan. Teddy and Rose laughed harder at the terrified expression on Ethan's face. He turned nervously towards Harry.

"Nothing, sir, they're just taking the mickey. Sir."

Harry clapped a hand on the young Auror's shoulder.

"What have I told you about calling me that outside of work?"

Ethan looked abashed but gave Harry a slight grin. The Head Auror shot a look at his godson, who wore a mask of innocence.

"Try not to be too hard on him, Teddy. The bloke deserves at least one day off."

Roughly an hour later, as Rose was enjoying the company of Scorpius and Louis along with some of the delicious food the Malfoy's had provided, her father approached her with an exhausted look on his face.

"Your mother and I are going to head home. She's a little tired."

He turned to Scorpius and shook his hand.

"I'm sure we'll see you in a few weeks, but best of luck with this one. She's a lot to handle at times." Her father had a slight smirk on his face as Louis and Scorpius chuckled appreciatively at his comment and Rose's red face. Ron leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek in farewell.

"We'll expect you and your brother to be home by midnight. We're so proud of you, Rosie."

His eyes showed the truth of his statement as he gave his final goodbye and walked towards his wife, who was saying farewell to Astoria and looking very eager to leave. Scorpius seemed to have noticed their parents odd behaviour throughout the night as well, and followed Ron with a simple "I'll be right back," to Rose and Louis.

They watched as he approached Ron and offered his hand again. Rose could just make out that he was thanking them for coming, before he turned towards her mother and dropped his voice. Rose watched in surprise as tears welled up in her mother's eyes before she embraced Scorpius in an affectionate and motherly hug. Astoria and Draco were looking at the scene in pride as Ron looked close to tears as well. They said their final goodbyes, and it didn't appear that anyone other than she and Louis had noticed the exchange.

"What was that all about?" she asked Scorpius as he approached them again.

He merely shrugged and said he was just thanking them for coming. Louis was able to shrug it off and accept the excuse, but Rose knew there was something they weren't telling her, and she was determined to get to the bottom of it.

"How about we break out the ice cream?" Scorpius suggested to the room at large, and the atmosphere returned to normal.

The merriment continued and they carried on into the evening until the rest of the parents began to say their goodbyes around ten o'clock. The children were allowed to stay with the promise that they would Floo home no later than midnight. James had to be at training early the next day so he had left with the adults. Fred and Roxanne weren't able to come and Ethan and Erin had also left early at his insistence that they were needed at home. Teddy and Victoire had opted to stay and spend some time with their younger cousins, much to their delight.

They all lounged around the room, their desire to stay upright nonexistent. Rose was sitting on the floor in front of Victoire as the older girl braided her hair, with Teddy sat next to her on the couch. Louis was taking up the other half of the couch, and Hugo was as good as passed out in one of the armchairs. Molly, Lucy, and Dom were stretched out on the floor in front of the fire while Scorpius, Lily, and Al shared the other couch. Scorpius was flipping through a quidditch magazine and batting away Al's feet as he tried to stick them in his face. The younger Potter boy was lying on his back with his head against Lily's thigh. One of his arms was pulled behind his head and draped over her lap as she used a pen to doodle all over his limb. She always kept one of the Muggle tools on her, and her current activity was a small way that Al indulged his little sister, especially when there was no parchment to be found. She got incredibly creative during late night hours and was a brilliant artist. No one knew where her talent had come from, as no one else in the family shared it.

As they sat around the fire, enjoying one of the more peaceful moments of the day, the conversation, inevitably, had gotten around to the wedding.

"Are we still carrying on with all our usual holiday traditions, though?" Al asked.

"I don't see why not," Teddy said. "We're getting married a week after Christmas for a reason, you know. We don't want to disrupt things too much. Granted, we won't have the same New Year's bash this time, but it'll still be one hell of a party."

He grinned at his fiance, who always wore a permanent smile on her face whenever she was in his presence. She was shooting glances at him, grinning broadly as she finished off Rose's braid.

"Do you two have to be so sickeningly sweet?" Louis asked. "It's rather disgusting."

Teddy grabbed his future brother-in-law by the leg and successfully flung him off the couch, much to the entertainment of everyone else in the room.

"I sometimes wonder why I ever wanted a brother," Louis grumbled as he pulled himself off the floor but refused to resume his place on the couch, taking a vacant armchair instead.

"Speaking of brothers," Teddy changed the subject, "I hear a friend of mine will be one of your new professors this year."

Everyone looked somewhat interested at this news, but Lily quirked her eyebrow at her godbrother as she finished off the landscape that was now covering Al's arm.

"What does that have to do with brothers?"

"Oh, right. You're friends with Charlotte Bray, aren't you?"

Lily nodded.

"It's her older brother Malcolm."

Everyone who wasn't paying as much attention before certainly was now. Hugo looked more awake and the girls on the floor sat up.

"You mean the one with the dark, wavy hair? Rather tall?" Dom asked.

"That's the one."

"Oh, you lot are so lucky. He's so fit," Dom gushed, and all the other girls giggled as they nodded in agreement with Dominique's assessment.

The boys gave a collective eye roll as Teddy tried to regain control of the conversation.

"Anyway, he was the same year as me at Hogwarts and we were friends and prefects together. He told me the other day that he's the new Muggle Studies teacher."

"Oh, that's brilliant!" Rose said. "I can't wait to see what changes he'll make. Not that Professor Bancroft wasn't good, mind, but she was getting on in years. I felt like we went through the same material over and over again."

"Does Charlotte know?" Lily asked, ignoring Rose's attempt to discuss school. "She hasn't mentioned it to me."

Teddy shrugged in his ignorance.

"That's all I know, honestly."

The topic changed to the plans for the upcoming weekend at the Potters' and jumped around to various other subjects until Victoire announced that it was time she and Teddy left.

"I have an exam on Monday and loads of revising to do in the meantime," she informed them. Victoire had spent her first few years out of Hogwarts working a desk job in the Ministry for the Muggle Liaison Office before deciding to enroll in a Muggle university. She wanted to pursue her work further and thought the best way to gain practical knowledge about working with Muggles was to interact with them on a daily basis. She had always loved learning as well and was very excited to try something new. Not to mention that she was taking night classes, which fit well with Teddy's schedule. Her supervisors had approved and were even helping fund her classes and allowing her to work fewer hours. She seemed to be loving every minute of it.

Everyone else bade them goodbye and noticed that it had reached quarter to midnight. They collectively began to rouse themselves, cleaning up the last of the cups and plates that had gathered over the course of the evening. It had been a wonderful night, but Rose couldn't stop thinking about the interaction that she had seen between her parents and Scorpius, along with the overall behavior of both sets of parents throughout the night, so she followed him into the kitchen with a stack of dishes as the others continued to take down the decorations and gather up trash.

"Hey," she began tentatively, placing the plates she was carrying on the island in the middle of the room as he placed some beside the sink. He glanced back at her and smiled in greeting.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked.

He turned and leaned back against the sink, his hands resting on the countertop and an open expression on his face.

"Sure, what's up?"

The island stood between them and she braced herself against it.

"What was going on with my parents tonight? I know you know, so don't even bother trying to deny it," she cut him off. He looked like he was about to protest the fact that anything was going on. Instead, he sighed and hung his head before looking up at her.

"Rosie, If you don't know, then I certainly can't be the one to tell you."

His response did nothing but frustrate her.

"Scorpius, come on. Something's going on and we tell each other everything, don't we?"

She knew this wasn't entirely true. He didn't know what her feelings were for him, for example. But everything else? They had never had a problem being open with each other over the past few years. He seemed to struggle internally with himself before speaking again.

"Rose, I wish I could tell you. Better yet, I wish you just knew. But it's not my place. You have to trust me on this. This has to come from your parents."

He was looking pleadingly at her, willing her not to argue.

"How come you know and I don't?"

Apparently, she wasn't quite ready to let this go.

"You'll have to take that up with your parents."

She stewed for a moment before he spoke again.

"Can I make a request, though?"

She was slightly surprised by his words but nodded her head. He let out a deep breath before continuing.

"Don't ask unless you really want to know the truth. It's not an easy one to hear, nor is it easy to tell. And please, try not to see me differently afterwards, even though you probably will."

Rose took in his words and was simultaneously afraid to hear the truth her parents had to tell, and angry at Scorpius. Why couldn't he just have some faith in her? In their friendship? He had shown confidence in what they had over the past year, and he hadn't really talked like this since they were sixteen.

"What makes you think my opinion of you would ever change?" she said rather heatedly. "You're my best friend, Scorpius Malfoy, so get your head out of your arse and accept it."

He looked dumbstruck at her words as she turned to leave the kitchen. She was just about to fling the door open when he called her name. Her hand stilled on the doorknob, but she didn't turn around as he spoke quietly.

"Just remember that we come from vastly different backgrounds, and some things are hard to forgive and even harder to forget."

She looked over her shoulder to see that he almost looked resigned. Resigned to the fact that there was something that could cause her to turn her back on him. It only made her angrier.

"That may be, but it's high time you accept who we both are and say to hell with the rest of it. I'm tired of reminding you that, despite your doubts and whatever it is the world tells you, I actually do care about you."

And with that, she walked out of the room.

* * *

 **A/N: Dun dun duuuunnn.. Trouble in paradise? People keeping secrets?**

 **Thoughts? Feelings? Let me know in the form of a review! And we finally get some Teddy Lupin :)**

 **One more chapter before we head back to Hogwarts! Excited for the upcoming school year? Thanks for reading!**


	9. Tell me why are you still so afraid?

Her family was the first to show up at the Potters' the next weekend. Rose quickly joined her aunt in the kitchen to help with the last minute preparations upon their arrival, Hugo had gone off to find Lily, and her parents were talking with Harry in his study.

It was a blisteringly hot summer day, the type of day that makes you yearn for the cooler weather, and the athletic shorts and tank top Rose wore weren't quite enough to keep her cool when she was outdoors. They would all be crammed into the dining room for lunch, and while cooling charms were regularly reinforced, it wouldn't be able to completely regulate the temperature in the usually spacious room that felt cramped when the entire family was packed around the table.

It was going to be a long and miserable day, the way Rose saw it. She much preferred brisk temperatures to the hot sun, and her fair skin was easily burnt. She was also not looking forward to facing her best friend. Rose knew she had gotten angry at him a little hastily, but she was tired of having to stick up for him to his own self. While it was true that he hadn't said things quite like that for at least a year now, he still made the occasional subtle comment that she would always deny before he took it any further, and it was wearing on her.

She missed him, but she wasn't sure she wanted to be the one to break the silence. No owls had been exchanged, and as far as she knew, he hadn't made an attempt to come and see her. She had avoided the Potters' all week, in case he would be there, but this weekend would bring the inevitable face to face they would need to have if they were to resolve their issues before term started. She wasn't even sure why he hadn't reached out to her, why he hadn't tried to talk to her. Was he angry with her or just being stubborn? Was he embarrassed because he knew she was right? Was he so sure that whatever had happened in the past was so awful, that he thought it best to just cut ties then and there? She hoped and prayed that wasn't the case. Physically knocking some sense into him wasn't something she was keen on doing.

Finding the time to talk to her parents about what she had witnessed at Malfoy Manor and what she and Scorpius had ended up arguing about had proved impossible. Her mother had been caught up with work that week and usually came home just in time to eat dinner and spend a short amount of time with her husband before turning in for the evening. She would occasionally have exceptionally busy weeks - being Minister of Magic called for long hours at times - but she never seemed to wilt under the pressure like she had seemed to be doing the past week. The most Rose had gotten out of her had been something about being busy "tracing things back to the source" and "getting it all sorted." Her father seemed to know what was going on, but having stepped away from the Ministry five years earlier, he generally kept his nose out unless his wife needed his support in some way. The fact that he was privy to the details spoke loads to Rose. It must be serious, whatever was going on.

So, all in all, it had been a stressful week in the Granger-Weasley household, and Rose was looking forward to hopefully patching things up with Scorpius before they headed off to Hogwarts. Even though she dreaded the actual confrontation part of it, she wanted to put it behind them. The first of September was on a Thursday that year, so she had less than a week to do so. If it wasn't today, her next chance would be on Wednesday, at James' first match, the day before they left for their final year at Hogwarts.

Rose was helping Ginny place the last few pieces of cutlery on the dining room table when Al walked in, wearing nothing but a pair of baggy athletic shorts and a sour look on his face. He ignored the immediate command from his mother to put some clothes on and focused his attention on Rose.

"Mum, I'd like a word with my cousin. Please."

Though his words were polite, his tone came off harsh. Ginny looked like she was about to scold him before deciding it wasn't worth her time and walking briskly back into the kitchen.

"Rose-"

"If you expect me to take you seriously, you're going to have to put some clothes on. The pasty whiteness of your chest is enough to temporarily blind me."

Hoping her comment would cause him to pitch a fit, she continued to place forks and knives on the table as if his presence didn't bother her at all. Al grabbed her wrists to still them and gain her attention. She reluctantly turned towards him.

"I'm not in the mood for jokes, Rose. What did you say to him?"

"To whom?" Rose feigned innocence. She didn't want to explain herself to Al. He tended to defend Scorpius when he thought she was too hard on him. He claimed to understand the pressures that Scorpius was facing, due to the ones he believed himself to be encumbered with as well. Rose knew this was partly true. Al faced plenty of pressures from the wizarding world, but he never thought less of himself due to who his family was. He had no need to. It wasn't something he could understand just because he wanted to.

"Trying to frustrate me won't work," he persisted. "Scorpius was fucking miserable after you left so abruptly the other night, and you've been conveniently absent since then. What the hell did you do to him?"

"Who says I did something to him? Did you ever think it might be the other way around?" She was becoming increasingly frustrated with her cousin. She knew he cared, but there he was, picking his side again, assuming she'd been in the wrong.

"Well, seeing as you've been hiding away, I assumed you were ashamed of something." 

"Ha!" she mockingly laughed, sounding close to hysterics. "I'm the one who's ashamed? Point that judgmental look at your other best friend, Albus Potter. I've done nothing I regret."

Al looked surprised by her words. He let her wrench her wrist free, and she turned to storm into the kitchen without looking back. She began to wash up some of the dishes that they'd used to prepare the meal. When she was frustrated, angry, or upset, it calmed her to do chores the Muggle way. It forced her to concentrate her energy elsewhere. She was so focused she almost didn't notice her aunt walk out of the pantry. Ginny paused to study her niece, wondering if it was safe to intrude in her personal life. Rose knew she was being examined by her aunt, but she didn't think she could hold it all in any longer.

"It's not bloody fair!" she exclaimed, close to tears as she scrubbed furiously at a giant pot that had been used to make the custard that was to go with their dessert later that evening. "He's done absolutely nothing to deserve this, yet people still treat him like shit and he treats himself the same exact way. Like he deserves to be treated that way. There's no fucking way that's fair."

Ginny watched her niece with raised eyebrows.

"You really are your father's daughter aren't you? Does your mother know you curse like that?"

Rose immediately relaxed and was thankful that she had let herself open up in front of her aunt. Her ability to make light of situations that Rose found dire, though hardly ever were, always succeeded in giving her a bit of perspective and lightening her mood. Rose even managed a slight chuckle.

"She'd probably scourgify my mouth if she'd heard. But I've always believed that, when you do express yourself, it's best to do it honestly."

Ginny nodded her head, a look of agreement on her face.

"May I ask who is being treated like shit? I doubt it's your cousin. He's usually not the type to let people get to him that easily, so I can only assume you're referring to someone else? Someone you both care for?"

Rose cursed her aunt's inquisitive nature, as well as her ability to be uncannily perceptive. She heaved a sigh as if to release all the emotions she had kept pent up over the past week.

"I know I don't understand what you all went through or what his family was like back then, but I don't see why any of that should matter. He's good and he's kind and he wants to turn things around for his family name. Why can't people just let him do that? Why can't he let himself do that?"

Ginny had moved beside Rose and placed her hands on her arms, stilling them as they were still furiously scrubbing at the pot. She turned and faced the older witch, who was wearing wisdom and love in her eyes.

"Rose, if I know Scorpius, he's doing his best to do all of those things, but he's terrified of becoming anything less than a kind, humble wizard of good repute. I'm willing to bet he thinks he's doing it for his own good. Thinking so little of himself, that is. I don't know specifics as to the situation you're referring to, but that boy has been in my house often enough for me to witness the occasional unfortunate incident based on his name."

Rose looked at her aunt questioningly, wanting her to elaborate but not sure it was her place to ask. Ginny seemed to understand her unasked question and continued.

"There are some other Hogwarts kids that live around the neighborhood. The Shepards and the Turners, to name a few."

Rose nodded. They had played together before Hogwarts.

"The summer between your second and third year, their two boys that are in your year stopped by to see if Al wanted to go around the corner to the park. Scorpius was here as well, and Al said he wouldn't go without him. Alec didn't seem to mind too much, but Devon Shepard? You could tell he was uncomfortable with the idea. He practically scowled at Scorpius when he saw him."

By the way she was talking, Rose could tell her aunt was still bothered by the interaction.

"Scorpius insisted that Al go on without him. Claimed he wasn't feeling up to it. He went, begrudgingly, and while he was gone, the only thing I managed to get Scorpius to say was that he understood and that he would have felt the same. He moped around the whole time even though he tried to put on a brave face. I managed to corner Al later and question him about the behavior I'd seen, and he told me that Scorpius tends to get a bad rap with the boys in all the other houses. Al is accepted because of his family, and there isn't much animosity between houses anymore, but Scorpius was never treated fairly by anyone. I think it got better for a while, based on Al's letters, but I believe it changed again after your fifth year."

This all made sense to Rose. He had stopped trying to fit in with his house around that time, and she hadn't known him well enough before then to be able to say how he was treated by other students. She was only thankful that she had never contributed to the negative energy that affected him. At least she hoped she hadn't. She may have been indifferent to him at one point, but she never hated him.

"What I'm saying," Ginny continued, "is that he hasn't been given a lot of reasons to see himself the way you clearly do."

Rose opened her mouth to protest, but her aunt beat her to it.

"I'm sure you do your best to reassure him of his worth and how much he matters to you, but something that ingrained in you doesn't go away overnight."

Rose slouched against the counter in resignation as her aunt moved forward to hug her.

"Don't give up on him, Rosie. He needs someone like you. It's hard to do everything on your own. You need people to encourage and support you. And I know how much he values you."

Rose held her aunt tightly, nodding her head.

"I'll do my best. But I'm not apologizing first."

Ginny laughed at the stubbornness her niece showed.

"I'd expect nothing less from you. Besides, he could use a little toughening up. He's strong, that boy. He's endured a lot. But he needs to learn how to fight too."

Rose teared up at her aunt's words as she pulled back. "You really care for him, don't you?"

Her aunt nodded in response. "And he knows that. That boy is almost as dear to me as your cousins. I'm not sure he understands just how much you care for him, though."

Rose looked at her aunt in surprise. Ginny's face wasn't coy or teasing. It was warm and encouraging. Rose was torn between telling her aunt everything, right then and there, or trying to deny her implications entirely. Luckily, she didn't have to make the choice herself.

"Are we playing Quidditch today or what?" was how James announced his presence as he barged into the kitchen.

"Mum, Al's refusing to clean out the filter again," Lily complained as she poked her head under James' arm that was resting on the doorframe.

"Do none of my children know how to properly dress themselves?" Ginny said in exasperation. "We have company coming any moment."

Sure enough, James was also shirtless, and Lily was wearing nothing but a baggy T-shirt over her swimwear.

"I thought you said we could use the pool today," said Lily as James rolled his eyes at their mother.

"Yes, but we're eating soon so please put some pants on," Ginny requested. She went about the last finishing touches for their meal as Lily requested that her mother at least talk to Al about doing his chores, before she trudged up the stairs and James started poking around for leftover scraps, ignoring his mother's request.

"So," James began, sticking a piece of discarded cheese in his mouth, "what's got Al so worked up? Every time I've mentioned you this week he's been snappish. I'd ask what you did, but I have a feeling you didn't actually do anything." 

"What makes you say that?" Rose asked, slapping his hand away from the plate of lunch meats. She was relieved that not everyone was against her right now.

"When I asked what you'd done, he had trouble articulating it."

"That's because he doesn't even know. He just confronted me a few minutes ago and asked what I'd done. So yes, he is pointlessly mad at me because he doesn't even know what to be mad at me for."

She gestured for him to grab the other plate of sandwich fixings, and he followed her to the dining room.

"Did you actually do something, then?" he asked.

"In so many words, no."

She hesitated before continuing.

"Scorpius and I aren't exactly speaking at the moment."

An expression of understanding crossed his features. "What happened?"

She heaved a sigh. She was tired of talking about it, but seeing as James actually knew the extent of her feelings, it wouldn't hurt to tell him.

"We said some things to each other. Well, he said some things, I shouted a bit."

After reiterating everything that had happened that night in the kitchen, James' best advice was to "just stick around. He'll thank you for your honesty in the end."

"Besides," he continued, "a lack of honesty only keeps you from being with the person you're supposed to be with. And for longer than necessary, in my experience."

Since she'd been keeping her distance from the Potters', she hadn't been able to witness the first weeks of her cousin's new relationship, but by the cheerful demeanor he wore, she could only assume it was going well.

"How are things with Violet, then?"

"They're outstanding," he beamed. "I can't believe we didn't do this a long time ago. Nothing has ever made more sense to me, you know?"

Rose nodded. She did know, or at least she had an inclining. Hopefully she'd know fully one day, if her best friend would ever speak to her again.

Pretty soon, everyone else in the family started to show up. All the non family participants of the Quidditch match were due arrive after lunch. Ginny used to feed everyone, but they had grown to a size that she claimed to be absurd. Most of the time at least half of them stayed for dinner, and she refused to feed them all more than once.

After lunch, James, Lily, and Hugo went out with Ron and Harry to set up the Quidditch pitch. The Scamanders were the first to arrive and didn't even come inside other than to poke their heads in and say hello before heading to the field around the back of the house. Fred, Roxy, Dominique, and Louis were quick to follow them outside. Rose was doing her best to ignore Al as they cleaned up after lunch. Thankfully, she had enough family members around to always ensure that they would have a buffer of some kind. She normally stayed by Lucy's side when trying to avoid a confrontation with someone else. The younger girl wasn't always keen on talking, but she also let her inquisitive nature get the best of her whenever an argument broke out between other people. She usually chose to stick around and hear things out rather than slip away. Al hated this, preferring to keep his arguments private, although he usually failed miserably at it.

Rose was in the middle of laughing at a story Lucy was telling about an incident in her Transfiguration class the previous year that involved Hugo and a rather unfortunate skin color, when she noticed that Scorpius was hesitantly standing in the entrance to the dining room. A nervous smile was frozen on her face and his eyes briefly landed on her before turning to acknowledge Al, who followed him out of the room, neither giving Rose a second glance. Once they were gone, she let out a frustrated groan and ignored Lucy's inquisitive look as they finished cleaning up before joining the others outside.

Everyone had shown up by the time Rose and Lucy finished. The girls were on the end of the field closest to the house, while the boys stood on the far end. The air was buzzing with anticipation as everyone donned their gear and mentally prepared for the match.

Though she didn't play in school, Rose always took the position of Keeper during family matches. She was brilliant at it, but hadn't wanted to distract herself from her studies. She tended to dive into things one hundred percent and knew herself well enough to not spread herself too thin. Besides, Gryffindor would have Caleb Wood as Keeper this year, and they'd be hard pressed to find a better man for the job. Hugo normally played for the boys side during family events, and when Caleb was around, like today, they'd switch off. With the number of people they had, most positions had a reserve, and Eva would always sub for Rose.

As they took to the air, Dom, Roxy, and Molly were in the Chaser positions with Lily in Seeker and Lucy and Violet as Beaters. The rest of the girls would sub in for various positions as needed. Their matches had lasted as long as five hours in the past, so everyone would get a fair chance to play.

The boys were getting into position as well. James was leading the pack, Louis and Scorpius on either side of him as his fellow Chasers. Fred and the Scamanders all swapped around as the two Beaters, while Hugo played keeper and Al was in his usual spot as Seeker. He and Lily were very evenly matched and it was always thrilling to watch them face off. They were the only two positions that never swapped out.

As the match began, everyone was cracking jokes and revelling in the sport of it all. They took the match seriously, but never to the point where no fun was had. All of the parents that had come were on the sidelines ready to cheer them on. A few of them used to participate in the game, but they had left it to the kids for the past few years.

Rose was doing her best to enjoy herself, but watching Scorpius fly was doing nothing to help her concentration. She was incredibly frustrated by the distance he was keeping. He hadn't said a word to her and had spared her barely a look. But she couldn't really blame him. She'd kept her distance all week. Yet she still held to the belief that he should come to his senses and apologize to her. Hopefully they'd have a chance to talk once all of this was over.

After an hour, they switched players and Eva took the hoops. Rose was thankful to have a moment to relax and hydrate, but she didn't count on the fact that Scorpius was taking a break as well. Rose watched as Bobby flew up to take his place as Lysander took Lorcans while Caleb took Hugo's spot as Keeper. Erin was now playing as Beater for Lucy, and Jill took Roxanne's spot as Chaser. They would sub again in another half an hour or so.

Rose kept surreptitiously glancing at Scorpius as he stood on the sidelines, chugging water and cheering on his teammates. He hadn't so much as glanced at her. She debated with herself for all of two minutes before caving. Slowly, she made her way forward until she stood next to him, the top of her head reaching his sweaty cheekbones. Now came the hard part, trying to actually start a conversation.

"You flew well. Have you been playing much this summer?"

Really? Rose thought to herself. That's almost as bad as asking about the weather.

He just shrugged and shot her a curious glance. She could feel herself growing frustrated, but tried to remain in control of her temper.

"Are you planning on saying anything to me at all today?"

He took another drink from his bottle of water.

"Scorpius, I'm trying to make amends here, despite my better judgment. The least you could do is respond."

He looked at her suddenly, a trace of hurt in his gray eyes.

"Why do it, then, if it's against your better judgment?"

His response surprised her. She assumed he'd be willing to forgive and forget once he realized that was what she wanted.

"Well, seeing as I didn't technically do anything to apologize for, I didn't really want to be the one to break the silence."

He only looked more hurt at her words.

"Wow. I really didn't think you'd blame me."

"Seeing as you were the one who forced the issue, I don't see why you're so surprised."

She was starting to become increasingly frustrated and also slightly confused. Of course she blamed him for thinking so little of her. It had hurt more than she cared to admit.

"I forced the issue? Rose, you were the one who insisted on knowing, and now that you do, what's supposed to happen now?"

They were facing each other, and Scorpius was becoming increasingly agitated. His hair was sticking in different directions due to the effects of him running his hands through it while it was drenched in sweat. Rose figured she didn't look much better. Her hair was falling out of her ponytail, and the humidity wasn't helping the curly mass remain calm.

"Now that I know what? That you think so little of me? That you think I'd turn my back on you when I've never given any indication that I would do such a thing?"

"You just said you blamed me!"

"Only for how you see me, but not for anything else! Scor, your family is your family. I accept you for all of that. It's part of who you are, and believe it or not, I love who you are."

She was surprised the words had come out of her mouth, but she was also determined not to take them back. He softened slightly, and Rose realized that they had gained an audience. Thankfully, they were on the opposite side of the field from their parents, so they didn't seem to notice anything was going on. Everyone else who wasn't playing was doing their best to pretend they weren't listening to their conversation. Charlotte and Lucy were trying to fake their own discussion and so were Lorcan and Ethan. Roxanne was lying in the grass pretending to be resting, but Rose had noticed her eyes flicker towards them. Hugo was the only one that wasn't trying to hide the fact that he was listening in. He stood a few yards away with his arms crossed, watching their confrontation as if he were ready to come to her aid at any given moment. He liked Scorpius just fine and the two were even friends, but he would always protect Rose. Especially when she told him not to.

Scorpius seemed to notice the eavesdroppers as well and stepped closer to Rose and dropped his voice.

"But now that you know everything, can you really not see my family any differently? After what they were a part of? What they allowed to happen?"

Rose finally understood. He thought she already knew the secrets that he and her family were keeping from her.

"That's why you've been ignoring me. You thought I found out about whatever it is that you're not telling me and that I was choosing not to speak to you because of it."

He nodded his head.

"I actually haven't had time to talk to my parents, to be honest," Rose admitted. "Mum's been awful busy at work, and I've barely had a moment with the two of them. I was just angry that you thought so little of both of us that you would think you're deserving of being cast aside based on choices you never made, and that I'm the type of person that would hold something like that over your head."

He closed his eyes and heaved a heavy sigh.

"So you still don't know, then?"

"I don't and it doesn't matter," she insisted. "I will eventually, but you can sure as hell count on me sticking around no matter what. So please, stop trying to push me away."

Almost as soon as she'd gotten the sentence out, he'd pulled her into a bone crushing hug. Rose thought she could have almost cried from relief. He released her just as quickly.

"I'm sorry, Rose. I know you've said the same thing practically a million times, and as much as I enjoy hearing it, I'll try my best not to make you say it again."

"You'd better not," she scolded as she poked him in the stomach. He chuckled at her, and she smiled at the ease with which they slid back into their friendship.

"Let's try not to do this again, okay?" she suggested. "I'd hate to have to spend a second of our final school year not talking. I already regret ignoring you those first four years."

Rose was smirking at him, and he couldn't help but smile at her cheeky look.

"Sounds like a plan to me."

"Oi! Fancy cheering us on every now and again?" James hollered from above them before shooting a wink at Rose and flying off. Al seemed to notice they'd made amends as well and was grinning. He usually didn't care too much what they were fighting about, only that they would eventually make up.

The match ended two hours later with the girls coming out on top, but only by a margin of twenty points. The boys had scored more goals, but Lily had been able to grab the snitch. This would normally put Al in a slightly sour mood, but his joy at not having to mediate between two of his best friends seemed to outweigh his disappointment. There were still a few hours until dinner, and they all spent the time in between cooling off by the pool. In a few days, a lot of them would be going to James' first match as a starting Chaser for Puddlemere United. The day after that, they would be heading off for another year at Hogwarts. With her best friend by her side once again, Rose felt more than ready to take on whatever the coming year would throw at her.

* * *

 **A/N: Next chapter we head back! All aboard. Hope you enjoyed it and I hope I was able to portray everything in a way that made sense. Let me know what you think!**


	10. Tell me your troubles and doubts

Before Rose knew it, James' first Quidditch match had come and gone and they were on the train back to Hogwarts. James flew fantastically, and Puddlemere won the match, much to everyone's delight. Violet had been ecstatic, and Rose had never seen her quite so jubilant. The ease with which James' girlfriend now seemed to carry herself made Rose envious. Their situations had been very similar a few weeks previously, and now Violet seemed freer than she was before. James' number had been painted on her cheek, and she wore one of his old Gryffindor jerseys with his last name across the back. She didn't have to hide her enthusiasm whenever James made a spectacular shot. Rose could picture herself doing the same for a certain blond haired Chaser during a Slytherin match.

Ever since Rose and Scorpius had made up, she'd been getting carried away with her emotions once again. She was noticing everything about him much more keenly; the way he moved and the infectious sound of his laugh. It was easy to get butterflies whenever his arm accidentally brushed against hers, and to share in his excitement whenever they talked about being Heads together. He was his old, confident self again. Her feelings were growing deeper now and she wasn't sure she would be able to stop herself from falling completely, even if she wanted to. And she was the type of girl who said she'd never let herself fall for a guy without knowing that he felt the same in return. She laughed at girls who fell for boys that didn't give them the time of day. It was making herself sick how hypocritical she was being.

She'd spent most of the week leading up to their departure for school with Scorpius, Al, and occasionally Erin, who'd been busy with her family and hadn't been around as much the last few weeks of summer. Her sister Alice had suddenly quit her job at the Ministry a week after their grandmother's passing when Madame Rosmerta had offered her the opportunity to run the Three Broomsticks. The elderly landlady had wanted to retire but wasn't prepared to sell her beloved pub either, and she knew that Alice had experience from living above the Leaky Cauldron for most of her life. The eldest Longbottom had eagerly accepted the offer. Her parents were skeptical of the sudden change, but had decided to do their best to support her decision. Alice had never been content working a desk job in the Department of Transportation, and they didn't want to force her into doing something that made her unhappy. Erin had spent the last few days before term helping her sister move into her new flat in Hogsmeade.

"This means we'll get to see each other fairly often. Dad said she's more than welcome to come up to the castle for dinner on occasion. I think he wants us to have family dinners now and then which won't be the worst thing in the world. I've missed her over my years at Hogwarts so it'll be nice to reconnect."

They were loading their trunks into their compartment and Erin had hardly stopped talking since she and Rose had found each other on the platform.

"You should see her flat. We'll have to visit her during Hogsmeade weekends. She said we're always welcome."

"That'll be brilliant," chimed in Al, who had followed them into the compartment and caught the last part of their conversation. "It'll be nice to have something different to do. Hogsmeade weekends started to get a little boring last year."

"Who says you were included in this invitation?" Erin shot at him. He raised his eyebrows at her in mild surprise.

"Well someone's in a snappy mood."

"Maybe I'd be in a better one if you hadn't insisted on asking "how I'm holding up" half a dozen times since you laid eyes on me. I can take care of myself, you know."

Scorpius had come in just behind Al, and he and Rose shared a concerned look. Erin and Al both had a tendency to fly off the handle when it came to each other, and the way Erin had been on edge lately didn't promise a peaceful journey. Al was about to retort when Scorpius, ever the peacekeeper, stepped in.

"We have to be going. Head duties and all that. You sure we can leave you two alone and still find you both living when we come back?"

Al rolled his eyes and Erin chuckled.

"As long as Al here can promise to remember that I'm fine, I think we'll be alright."

She locked eyes with Al, challenging him to contradict her. He let out a huff of breath before waving away their friends.

"Go on, we'll be fine, apparently. I can take a hint."

With that less than reassuring statement, Rose and Scorpius made their way to the prefects compartment, hoping that their friends would be able to survive without them. As they walked, the amount of responsibility they now held started to sink in for Rose. Soon they'd have to start putting out fires among other students and not just their best friends.

"Nervous?" Scorpius asked her quietly as they made their way down the train.

"Yes. You?"

"Terrified," he chuckled at her.

They had reached the compartment and she gave him a reassuring smile.

"We've got this, though. Nothing to be worried about, right?"

"Don't jinx us before term has even started, Weasley. You're practically asking for trouble with that statement," he joked.

They set about getting things in order as they waited for the other students to arrive. It was roughly fifteen minutes into the train ride when the first of the prefects started to show up. Rose didn't know some of the younger students so she took some time to introduce herself as everyone settled in. She knew the ones she was related to, obviously. Hugo, Lucy, and Molly were all there. Anastasia Bennett was the other Gryffindor prefect in Hugo's year and Rose was familiar with her, but mostly with the fact that Lily wasn't her biggest fan. Lucy's counterpart was Andrew Mitchell, a rather timid looking Hufflepuff that Rose knew to be exceptionally bright. She made her way around and greeted everyone, even the other Gryffindor prefect from her year, Devon Shepard, whom she had never been overly fond of. After what her aunt told her over the summer regarding his cold attitude towards Scorpius, Rose's opinion of him had sunk even lower.

Across the compartment, Rose could see Scorpius talking to a Ravenclaw prefect that she believed to be Molly's fellow sixth year. The Ravenclaw seemed to be doing most of the talking while Scorpius looked less than pleased with the conversation as he responded occasionally. She continued to steal surreptitious glances at her partner while trying to focus on talking to the other students.

"Alright, everyone," Scorpius eventually called to the compartment at large, "if we can all take our seats, we'll get started."

Once they were finally all settled, Rose opened up the meeting. She and Scorpius had discussed how they were planning to run things beforehand. Rose would handle the welcome and description of duties as well as expectations, and Scorpius would hand out patrol schedules and discuss the dos and don'ts of rounds. They had moved onto that portion of the meeting, and Rose was trying hard not to beam with pride at how well Scorpius was carrying himself.

"You're allowed to take points, but do this with discretion," he was saying as he handed out schedules. "You'll have to write up a report at the end of the night explaining the situation, and it will need to be signed by your patrol partner for accountability purposes. You can recommend a student receive a detention, but you can't give one out on the spot. This will be reported the same way as any point docking. You'll stick with the same patrol partner for the entire term. Please, no requesting to change based on preference. We consulted all of your schedules as far as extracurricular activities go, so you better have a good reason if you ask us to swap any of you permanently. If something important comes up and you need someone to take your shift, that's your responsibility to figure out, but don't make a habit of doing so. If you sub for someone, make sure to tell either myself or Rose who's shift you're taking. We don't want people abusing the system so we will be keeping tabs."

As he spoke, most of the students seemed to be respectful of Scorpius as they listened intently, but his housemates almost seemed bored, and Devon Shepard couldn't hide the derision on his face. Rose held her breath as her fellow Gryffindor raised his hand towards the end as Scorpius asked if there were any questions after the explanation of their guidelines.

"Yes, Shepard?" Scorpius acknowledged him.

"What did you bribe the Headmistress with?"

Scorpius stiffened but didn't allow his professional expression to shift.

"Pardon me?" he said curtly.

"All I'm saying is, the Headmistress has to be off her rocker by now if she wants a Death Eater spawn like you in charge of her students."

There was a general intake of breath around the compartment. Many of the students shot Devon dirty looks as he continued to sit there with his arms crossed and a smug look on his face. Even the Slytherins didn't looked too pleased. A few students were staring at the floor as if trying to mind their own business. Rose had stood up to stand by Scorpius's side, but he stuck his arm out as if to keep her back.

"If you have a problem with me, Shepard, I'd appreciate it if you took it up with me in private next time. Any other questions?" he addressed the rest of the room. Everyone looked too scared to say anything as some shook their heads while others began to gather their things. The atmosphere was tense, and Rose was having a hard time biting her tongue. Her pulse was racing, and she was sure her face was flushed with anger.

Devon had a slightly pleased look on his face. He could tell he had gotten to the Head Boy. Rose could too. Scorpius had schooled his expression to seem impassive, but the temper that he rarely let loose was bubbling just below the surface. When there were no further questions, Scorpius was quick to dismiss the majority of the prefects as the few who had to patrol the train stayed to receive further instruction before heading out as well. Hugo was one of the few who had stayed behind, and he turned back to address the Head Boy before leaving with his patrol partner for the front end of the train.

"Don't pay him any mind, Scor. Devon's a prat and everyone knows it."

Scorpius nodded in appreciation at Hugo before the young prefect left the compartment. Once they were alone, Rose wasn't sure what to say to her friend. She was always so quick to tell him not to think so little of himself when he was the one doing the talking, but when someone else was saying it? It was hard to deny that no one saw him that way.

"You don't need to say anything, Rose. He's always been an arse to me, it's nothing knew."

She watched him pack up his notes and the leftover copies of the schedule, refusing to look at her.

"I didn't expect that," she said softly.

"You never do."

And he strode past her and out of the compartment, leaving her uncertain of what she could do to help him this time. Following him out, she jogged to catch up with his quick pace.

"It actually went rather well overall, don't you think? Aside from the statement by the pompous arse towards the end," she prompted, not wanting to walk in awkward silence and hoping to crack his stoic facade. It didn't matter to her if he smiled or scowled at her jab, as long as she got something out of him.

He just shrugged in response. Apparently making light of the situation wasn't helpful.

"Did you have a good time mingling with some of the other students? I saw you talking with the Ravenclaw prefect. What was his name again?" Maybe a different tactic would work and she could distract him from thinking about Devon Shepard. Changing the topic seemed like a safe option.

"Scotty Robinson?"

She was pleased that he had verbally responded, but he still wore a creased brow and a slight frown.

"Yes, he's in sixth year with Molly, right?"

He nodded in answer to her question.

"He seemed eager and friendly. What did you two talk about?" she asked.

"Just about plans for the year, my thoughts on house unity, shit like that."

He didn't seem too pleased by the way his conversation had gone with the prefect, and Rose grew slightly concerned as he continued.

"Even managed to note how surprised he'd been with the Headmistress' choice of Head Boy."

Rose's eyes widened with worry at his words. Had two students in the course of one hour questioned whether or not Scorpius deserved his new position?

"What do you mean? What did he say?"

He shrugged again before responding.

"Just that he'd been surprised when he'd heard and he wondered if I had been too. He did say he thinks I'll do a bang up job, but it doesn't exactly inspire confidence, you know?"

He looked more depressed than upset now. Rose linked her arm with his and tugged on it affectionately.

"Hey, he's right, though. You've already done brilliantly. Don't listen to what people say, especially when they don't know what they're talking about."

By the time they reached the compartment, she hadn't been able to get him to say anything else, and his somber demeanor hadn't changed. As much as she wanted to just fix things for her friend, Rose was beginning to realize that she might be out of her depth this time.

* * *

The feast had gone well enough, and the new Muggle Studies teacher was everything that Dominique had described him to be. Malcolm Bray was tall and had the same dark hair as his younger sister, who had been beating off girls trying to gather information out of her as they blatantly stared at their dreamy new professor. His eyes were kind and he wasn't too muscular, sporting a rather lean build, and he seemed to be getting along well with Neville at the head table.

Scorpius had dragged Al over to the Slytherin table when they had entered the Great Hall, stating that they should start their final year the same way they'd started their first. The rest of the train ride had been a bit tense. Scorpius hadn't said anything to Al or Erin about what had happened during the prefects meeting, so Rose hadn't either. She could tell Al knew something was off based on her rigid demeanor, but Scorpius had acted as if nothing had happened, and Erin did her usual brilliant job of remaining oblivious.

Rose was doing her best to not keep glancing over at the Slytherin table by trying to focus on the conversation that was being had between her dorm mates. Natasha Jones was going on about her summer spent in Paris, while Miranda Robertson was detailing the extensive camping trip she'd taken with her family. Rose and Erin got along well enough with Miranda, but neither could put up with Natasha for very long. They had one of the smaller classes of girls, but the seven boys in their year more than made up for it. In fact, it always made Rose wonder why Devon Shepard, out of all of the seventh year Gryffindor boys, was the one picked to be a prefect.

She was looking forward to having an opportunity to talk to Scorpius once they were in the Heads' common room. She was sick of Natasha insisting that she had picked up a slight French accent during her time abroad, but it was worth it when Louis overheard from down the table and started asking her questions in rapid French. Her subsequent stammering and blush was priceless, and it sent Rose off to her common room in slightly better spirits. It was on the seventh floor, just down the hall from the Room of Requirement. This made it difficult to throw elicit parties there, but her older cousins had always seemed to be able to pull them off over the years.

When she arrived, Scorpius was talking to the portrait that guarded their dorms and common room. It was of a middle aged woman, knitting in a rocking chair. She reminded Rose of her Grandma Weasley, and the thought comforted her.

"We're supposed to pick a password," Scorpius said after he noticed her approaching.

"Have anything in mind?" she asked.

"Most students," the portrait chimed in, "pick something that they have in common so it's easier for both of them to remember."

"This is Margaret, by the way," Scorpius said, gesturing to the portrait. "Margaret, this is Rose, the Head Girl."

Rose and Margaret greeted each other.

"Well, how about 'The Burrow?'" Scorpius suggested.

"It doesn't have to be something to do with my family. It can be about yours," Rose offered.

"I'd rather it not," he responded quickly.

Deciding it best not to argue with him at the moment, Rose agreed. They made their way into the common room, and she was thrilled with what she saw. The ceilings were high, but the room gave off a cozy feel. A giant hearth housed a fire to the right of the portrait hole, and a couch with two arm chairs on either side of it sat across from the warm glow. On the other side of the fireplace were bookshelves that continued onto the wall perpendicular to it, interspersed with windows that reached the ceiling and had desks in front of them. To the left of the portrait hole was a small kitchenette, and on the back wall were two doors that Rose assumed led to their respective dormitories. The furniture was a rich maroon color and the walls were a deep forest green. The woodwork was a dark walnut, and Rose couldn't have felt more comfortable in the intimate yet spacious room. She kicked off her shoes and sunk her toes into the deep, cream colored carpet, watching as her feet left imprints in the soft material.

Looking up, she saw Scorpius making himself at home in one of the armchairs and she moved to join him by the fire, taking the other one.

"Are we going to talk about this?" she asked as she sat down

His head was resting against the back of the chair and his eyes were closed. He opened them slowly and turned his head to look at her.

"What's there to talk about, Rose? No matter what you or anyone else says, some people will always see me for who my family is and question my place in this world. And there's nothing you can do about it, so why bother?"

She sat there for a moment, contemplating the day's events and what Scorpius had just said.

"I guess I hadn't really ever witnessed it in person. Honestly, it shocked me. I can't believe anyone would say something like what Shepard did."

Scorpius sat forward and rested his head in his hands, covering his eyes and muffling his voice.

"Yeah, well, I've had more than enough experience to last a lifetime, and it still manages to shock me whenever I hear it as well."

He sounded so resigned when he said it, and it worried Rose.

"Maybe it's about time I just embrace who I am. Give the people what they want, what they're expecting."

Now she was scared. He couldn't actually mean that, and she told him as much. He shrugged his shoulders as he sat back and gazed into the fire.

"Maybe I do. Maybe it's about time I start hanging around my own kind."

"Scorpius, we're your own kind. I'm your own kind. Stop talking about this as if people belong to different classes. We're all the same, and only pigheaded idiots still manage to think otherwise. Maybe you're looking at this all wrong. Maybe this is your chance to prove that there is no difference between you and the rest of the wizarding world. That you deserve to be Head Boy just as much as I deserve to be Head Girl. If not more so."

By the end of her speech, she was standing between him and the fire, and he was looking at her fondly as she spoke with conviction, hoping he would actually hear her. She hadn't anticipated having almost the exact same conversation they'd had a week ago, especially not this soon. While this was slightly different, she didn't expect to have to convince him of his worth twice in one week, and it was becoming exhausting to continue to do so.

"Maybe you're right," he said, standing and stretching with a yawn. "I'll try not to let it get to me. It's just one prat after all. How much harm can he do?"

Rose smiled at him, relieved that he was letting it go, at least for the moment.

"Good. Now, I think it's time we get some shut eye. Classes might not start til Monday, but we've had a long day, and I for one am very much looking forward to having a dorm all to myself this year."

Scorpius chuckled at her as they headed towards their dorms.

"Poor Erin. I expect we'll be seeing a lot of her around here."

"About that," Rose said, stopping right outside her room and turning to face Scorpius as he paused outside his own.

"I was thinking we give the password to one person each, and I was thinking it could be Al and Erin, if that's alright with you. I don't fancy us getting overrun by my entire family, so I'd rather only a couple people know."

Scorpius was quick to agree with her suggestion, and they bade each other goodnight as Rose opened the door to her dorm, stopping short in awe as she entered. The room was decked out in Gryffindor colors, and the four poster bed on the back wall looked slightly bigger than her old one. A beautiful vanity sat in one corner, and a large wardrobe in another. Her bathroom was to her right, and she quickly looked in to find a claw foot tub and a shower stall along with the sink and toilet.

As she made her way towards where her trunk was positioned at the end of her four poster, she hoped that their first day would be the only instance where derision and contempt were shown by their fellow classmates. It might have been naive of her to wish for such a thing, but if Scorpius was going to succeed, he needed not just her support, but the support of the students as a whole. Part of her wanted to go to Professor McGonagall, but Scorpius wouldn't have appreciated that either. Unable to spend more time thinking about all of it, she decided she was too mentally and physically exhausted to unpack just yet, and quickly changed into her pajamas before climbing into her new bed - which she assumed was what heaven felt like - and quickly drifting off to sleep.

* * *

 **Probably my longest gap between updates to date! I kind of agonized over this one so I hope it works well. Thanks for the new follows and favorites! It would be great if you reviewed along with that :) Happy reading!**


	11. I see trouble on the way

Since they'd arrived at Hogwarts on a Thursday and classes weren't starting until Monday, they had the weekend to settle in. Rose took great pleasure in making herself at home in her new dormitory. Erin had joined her the majority of the evenings, claiming that the other seventh year girls were insufferable at the worst of times, and unbearable at best. Natasha more than Miranda.

Rose and Erin were each taking seven N.E.W.T.s during their final year at Hogwarts, as were Scorpius and Albus. By the time Monday arrived, Rose was practically skipping down the corridors. She had missed being in the classroom, and she had a feeling that her final year would be the best one yet.

Her first class on Monday was Defense Against the Dark Arts, followed by Arithmancy, and then Potions and History of Magic after lunch. Three of those classes she had with Scorpius and Al, and two of them with Erin. Al and Erin had never taken Arithmancy, so they had a free period before lunch. Rose and Al were the only ones who had elected to continue with History of Magic. On Tuesday, the first class of the day was Transfiguration and then Herbology. Rose and Scorpius didn't take the latter, giving them a free period that they usually spent in the library. They all took Charms together after lunch. Scorpius and Erin took Ancient Runes while Al and Rose had a free period, and then they all had Muggle Studies as their last class of the day.

Every class had the same basic format those first few days. They were reminded of the importance of N.E.W.T.s, and given more homework than they knew what to do with, all while being encouraged to revise on a consistent basis. Rose was starting to feel the pressure as they headed to their first Muggle Studies class on Tuesday afternoon. It was the last first class they would take, and Rose had almost forgotten that they'd be breaking in a new teacher. Rose and Erin settled into a desk together, with Scorpius and Al behind them somewhere near the middle of the class. Professor Bray was writing his name on the chalkboard along with a list of dates when they walked in.

"Good afternoon, class," he addressed the students as they settled into their seats. He casually moved around to the front of his desk and sat on it, appearing very much at ease as the class sat eagerly on the edge of their seats, curious about their new professor.

"My name is Malcolm Bray, but that's Professor to you lot. I'm not the biggest fan of the rather stuffy title, though, so I'm all in favor of trying out names until one fits. None of your other schoolmates have been brave enough to try anything other than boring old Professor Bray, so it's up to you lot to rise to the occasion. Sound good?"

Everyone nodded, and grins were appearing as they glanced around the classroom at each other. He grinned back at them as he stood from his perch on the desk.

"I want this class to be engaging and comfortable. We've got a lot of material that I'd like to cover, but if we're all focused, I believe we can make it happen. So, all that being said, there's only twelve of us, so let's clear these desk out of the way and circle up."

With a wave of his wand, the desks vanished and everyone excitedly shuffled their seats around. Rose was now seated between Erin and Al, with Scorpius on his other side. They were sitting to the right of their brand new professor, who was looking excitedly at his students eagerness.

"Now," he began once they were all settled. "We won't always meet like this. You'll have your desks when there's ever any practical work to do, but I want a lot of this class to focus on discussion. Before we get into what our topics will be this year, I want to take some time to introduce myself a bit."

Everyone sat forward in interest. He was very captivating with his deep voice and his warm smile.

"I was raised by two wonderful parents, as were my three sisters, one of whom some of you might know."

The people who knew Charlotte nodded in response.

"Both my parents are Muggles, as are two of my sisters," he continued. "I was raised with the mindset that those with magic and those without were no different other than their ability to use a wand. My father's brother was a wizard, and he and my grandparents were killed in the second war. My parents raised me and my siblings to be accepting and considerate of anyone we crossed paths with, and I believe those are valuable traits to have. Not that we are to turn a blind eye when there's evil or someone is cruel, but to not judge someone based on something as inconsequential as the family they were born into. That's one of the main things I want to get across this year. That, fundamentally, Muggles aren't so different from us. I know most of you probably already have that mindset, but there are some things it never hurts to learn twice. So, are you with me so far?"

There was more nodding around the room. He was very upfront, and Rose liked that about her new teacher. Just about everyone else in the room seemed to share her sentiment, based on the expressions they wore.

"What it comes down to is that we're all people. We're all human. Being raised in a Muggle family has helped me to see that, but not everyone has that privilege. So that's what we'll be exploring this first term, and we'll be doing it through the help of literature."

He got up and went behind his desk to retrieve a box of thick, heavy books, as curious murmurings started up around the class.

"What do you think it'll be?" Erin leaned in and whispered.

Rose only shrugged her shoulders as she watched Professor Bray start to pass out the massive volumes.

"I wasn't given the position until it was too late to put the necessary reading material on your supply list. Therefore, I'm handing them out now and the school is footing the bill for them. I had to beg for them to let you keep them and not have to turn them in at the end of the term. I want you to be able to write notes in the margins if you'd like."

He finished passing them out, and Rose looked at her copy. Les Miserables was embossed in gold across the front of the brown leather cover.

"Who's Victor Hugo?" Angie Archer asked. She was the seventh year Ravenclaw prefect, and Rose had gathered that she was rather disappointed that she hadn't been named Head Girl.

"Anyone else care to answer Miss Archer's question?" Bray asked the class. Rose's hand slowly went into the air and he nodded at her.

"Victor Hugo was a French Muggle author in the eighteen hundreds. He's also known for his novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame."

Bray smiled at her in pride.

"Excellent, Miss Weasley. Ten points to Gryffindor."

Angie Archer had a slight pout on her face.

"He was also a dramatist and a poet," Bray continued, "but our focus will be on the work you now hold in your hands. I know it looks daunting, but it's all very important. We have a lot of themes and topics to cover and this book does it the best. There will be a foot long reflection paper due once a week, which you will normally have time to work on during Tuesday's lesson, and then discussion on Thursdays when they are due. You will also have a group project about halfway through term that will be a study on a character of your group's choosing, to be approved by me. I'd like each group to pick someone different. And finally, throughout our time in the book, I want you to pick a main theme and write a final paper on it for the end of term. You can use your reflection papers to build up your material and figure out what you want to cover. It must be longer than your usual reflection papers, but the overall length is up to you. I want you to get out of this what you decide to put into it. The due dates for these are on the board. Any questions so far?"

Everyone looked impressed by their new professor, and a few of them were flipping through the pages in the book, but Scorpius had his hand in the air.

"Mr. Malfoy," the professor acknowledged him. He seemed excited that someone had a question.

"Yes, sir - "

"Too formal," the professor interrupted. "Try something else."

Scorpius looked taken aback before a contemplative look formed on his face.

"Professor Mac?" he said tentatively. The whole class looked at the young professor in anticipation. His face gave nothing away for a few moments before a smirk appeared.

"That's more like it. Ten points to Slytherin. You may continue with your question."

Scorpius smiled in relief, as did most of the class. Even though he came off extremely friendly, the class seemed to have develop a sort of reverent fear of Malcolm Bray. Rose assumed it was a fear of disappointing him more than anything. He was the type of person that inspired people's best efforts.

"I was wondering," Scorpius continued, "other than this being by a Muggle author, how does it tie into what you were talking about earlier? About Muggles and magic folk being the same. How do you plan on using literature to show that?"

There was a scoff from across the room, and Rose turned to see Devon Shepard with a smug look on his face as he whispered into the ear of Alec Turner, who looked like he'd just been told a distasteful joke. Professor Bray either didn't notice or chose to ignore the disturbance.

"I'm so glad you asked, Mr. Malfoy. That's the most important part."

Rose shot Scorpius a smile, and he subtly returned it before she focused her attention back on her professor.

"For your papers, you'll pick what you thought was one of the themes of the book, like passion, or revenge, and I want you to find parallels between what you see in the text, and what you've seen in our society. It can be things that have happened in history, things that are going on in our current age, or things that you've witnessed in your own life. Even though this takes place a few centuries ago, I think you'll find that these characters are a lot like the real people you come face to face with everyday, be they Muggle, wizard, or witch. And our worlds aren't all that different either. So, that being said, let's crack this giant open and get an overview of the format."

They left class an hour later, and Rose was chattering excitedly about their Muggle Studies assignments. Scorpius seemed excited about it as well, while Al and Erin looked extremely intimidated by the book that was now weighing down their bags.

"I'm so excited to finally read it," Rose was saying. "It's one of my mother's favorites. In fact, I think it's where she got my brother's name, and-"

"Oi, Malfoy!" The four of them paused and turned to face Devon Shepard as he was leaving the classroom behind them. He had an arrogant look on his face, and Alec Turner was trailing cautiously behind him.

"Heard your comments in there. Don't think Muggles are equal to wizards, do you?"

"What are you on about, Shepard?" Scorpius asked with a resigned posture. Al, Erin, and Rose immediately had their guards up as the other boy approached them.

"Dev-" Alec timidly tried to speak up before his friend continued.

"I hope you're open to learning how wrong your prejudices are. Us Muggle-borns are ready to teach you a lesson. Here's hoping we won't have to do it the hard way."

"Shove it, Shepard," Al barked. "He's in Muggle Studies, isn't he? That not enough for you? Maybe you should check your own prejudices next time you start accusing someone else of having them."

The Gryffindor boy raised his eyebrows at Al in surprise.

"Sticking up for your boyfriend there, Potter? Don't worry," he raised his hands in a gesture of surrender as Al made to lunge towards him. He was held off by Erin, who was whispering warnings furiously at him. "I don't judge, unlike some people."

He shot Scorpius another dirty look before walking away, but not before giving him a rough bump to his shoulder. Rose had just about had enough.

"Hey, Shepard!" she hollered at the boy. He turned around and looked her up and down, a smirk on his face.

"Alright, Weasley?"

She ignored his disgusting observation of her and attempted to put on her most authoritative disposition.

"Next time you threaten another student, I'll be very much inclined to give you a detention."

Shepard just laughed as Turner hauled him off towards Gryffindor Tower, but he couldn't help getting one last shot in.

"You won't be able to hide behind the children of war heroes forever, Malfoy!"

"Bloody bastard," Al grumbled as he shook off the grip that Erin still had on his arm. They all continued down the hall, and Rose suggested they head to the joint common room instead of their separate ones. She didn't want to be in that slimeball's presence for longer than necessary, so the Gryffindor common room sounded less than appealing. They spent the majority of their walk abusing the Gryffindor boy, and Scorpius remained mostly silent, only offering any conversation when he was specifically addressed.

Once they'd made it to the joint common room and were settled around one of the fireplaces, Rose immediately started pulling homework out of her bag.

"I can't believe we already have work due tomorrow," Erin complained, beginning to copy Rose's actions. "Blast that Simpson and his need to make us all suffer."

"Are you joking?" Al asked Erin. "Learning how to cast a Patronus is all you talked about wanting to do last year. Now that we're starting in on the theory of it you complain?"

Erin rolled her eyes at Al, pulling a book from her bag. "Performing one, yes. But you know I'm not the best at defense theory."

"How do you expect to master it without knowing the theory behind it?" Al challenged her.

"I never said it wasn't needed," she countered in annoyance. "I merely said that I-"

"Your problem," Al interrupted, "Is the fact that you'd rather just have it handed to you than actually work for it. Well that's not how the world works. You have to do difficult things and shit happens. So quit complaining about it."

He started flipping through his defense book. Erin's jaw was clenched and her brow severely furrowed in anger.

"I know," she said in a poor attempt at remaining calm, "that the world doesn't work that way. You don't have to remind me how unfair it can be."

Al looked back up at her, a blank expression on his face. Rose and Scorpius watched in silence, unsure of what to make of the situation or if they should interfere, before Al spoke in a cool voice.

"I don't? I never would have guessed." And he turned back to his homework.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I'm not sure I've ever met someone quite as cold as you."

Without another word, Erin slammed her book shut and shoved it back into her bag before rising to her feet and storming from the room, with only a "see you at dinner," thrown at Rose.

The redhead turned to her cousin, furious.

"What the hell was that?" she snapped at him. Scorpius didn't look too happy either.

Al sighed and set his book aside before looking between his two friends.

"I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't have done that, but you can't deny, that's the most emotion any of us have seen come out of that girl in weeks," he said, pointing towards the door Erin had stormed out of moments before. At his words, Rose realized that Albus was probably right, not that she approved of his method, though.

"That may be, but I don't know if you're going about this the right way," Rose cautioned.

"I don't know," Scorpius said with a shrug. "He may be onto something."

Rose looked at him questioningly.

"Why do you say that? I hardly find it beneficial for her to be mad at Al."

"Well at least her emotions have some kind of outlet," Al defended himself. "I'm just worried she'll keep everything bottled up until she goes crazy. You remember what happened when she had that fling with Carter Brighton? How much she shut down when it ended? She completely lost her shit that summer, and this could be worse than what that Gryffindor put her through. Trust me, Rose," he said before his cousin could interrupt as she was preparing to do. "I think I know what I'm doing."

She shared a look with Scorpius, who seemed inclined to trust Al, before she nodded and they all got back to their homework.

Al and Scorpius sat at the Slytherin table during dinner at Rose's request. She assumed Erin hadn't calmed down yet after her confrontation with Al, and she wanted to have some time alone with her friend. If Al was right, maybe this would spark some emotional venting from her, and she could finally deal with her grandmother's passing.

Erin was already in the Great Hall when Rose arrived, separating from the boys as she entered. The blonde looked up at her as she approached the table, giving her a strained smile. Rose sat across from her best friend, searching her face for any sign of how she was doing.

"I'm sorry I didn't come after you," she apologized. "I figured you needed some time on your own to deal with things."

Erin looked confused at Rose's apology.

"Why would I need to deal with things? There's nothing to deal with."

She started eating the food she'd already dished onto her plate before Rose had arrived. This was what Rose had feared. Al's plan hadn't worked at all. Time for a new tactic.

"Erin, I know you're avoiding how you feel, and it's okay to let yourself fall apart. Let yourself feel your grief, deal with it, and move on. You're bottling everything up and I'm worried about you."

Erin stared blankly at her friend, chewing her food slowly before swallowing, setting her fork down, and draining her goblet of pumpkin juice before addressing Rose.

"How many times do I have to tell you lot that I'm fine? I'm guessing Al's little goading session was an attempt to get me to 'feel' or something?" She said this in a calm voice with a sarcastic edge that made Rose cringe in guilt on behalf of her cousin. "I can bloody well take care of myself. You don't need to prod me into behaving the way you think I ought to behave. We all handle things differently, and if you have a problem with the way I do it, you can bugger off until you think I'm stable enough to be friends with again."

They stared each other down for a solid minute. Rose felt slightly ashamed of herself. Erin was right, to some extent, but she was still worried about her.

"I understand what you're saying," Rose assured her friend, "but that doesn't mean I'm not going to worry about you. So if I agree to stop pestering you, can you agree to at least let me worry from a distance? No more interfering. I promise."

"From any of you," Erin said.

"I know Scorpius will let it be if I ask him," he hadn't pushed her much anyway, "but I can't do anything to control that hot headed cousin of mine, unfortunately."

Erin gave a slight smile at this.

"I'll deal with Al, no worries. Thanks, by the way. I know you mean well, but I really think I have to figure all this out on my own. Let me deal with my own issues, please."

Rose smiled at Erin, nodding her head as they continued with their meal. A few moments later, they were joined by Louis and Caleb, who were quickly followed by Lily and Hugo. They could see Molly and Jill at the Ravenclaw table, and Lucy and Charlotte at Hufflepuff's.

"Is this national sit-with-your-own-house day?" Rose asked. It was rare for them all to be segregated.

"Well, we saw Al and Scorpius weren't sitting with the two of you, so we figured it wasn't a free for all tonight," Louis explained.

Erin and Rose shared a confused look.

"Why would what we do affect what the rest of you decide?" Erin asked.

"You're the seventh years now," Caleb shrugged. "You pretty much set the tone. That's the way it was last time we had inter-house friendships among the seventh years. Don't you remember what it was like with your cousins and the Scamanders?" he gestured at Rose.

Rose thought back to two years previously and sure enough, if Lorcan and Lysander were at the Gryffindor table, so were all of the other people from other houses they were friends with. If Fred, James, and Roxy were at the Ravenclaw table with the Scamanders, the rest of the Gryffindors joined their friends at their respective house tables. They rarely didn't sit together for a meal, but when the odd moment happened, everyone else stayed with their own house as well. It was surreal for Rose and Erin to realize the position they now held. Not that they had any type of unlimited source of power, but that they now set the example for everyone else. They were looked up to by their friends and family. This was exceptionally difficult for Erin to wrap her mind around, being the youngest in her family.

"Oh," Rose finally said. "Well, you don't have to do things just because it's how we do them."

"We know that, Rosie," Hugo said with a roll of his eyes. "But it's sort of easier this way. Keeps the status quo and all that."

Erin leaned across Lily who sat beside her to address Hugo.

"What happens if we have a falling out with those two Slytherins over there?" she said, gesturing across the room with her fork and causing Lily to back even further away from her out of fear of losing an eye. "Who's to say we haven't already fallen out with them and that's why they're over there and we're over here?"

Lily shoved Erin back into her seat.

"That," Lily said, "will happen when hell freezes over. Ever since the four of you buddied up in your fifth year, I've never known you to go a day without each of you speaking to each of the other ones."

Erin looked like she was thinking long and hard about Lily's words as Rose couldn't help but agree with her younger cousin.

"I'm pretty sure I didn't talk to Scorpius one day in sixth year, and the only reason I saw Al that day was because he needed to borrow one of my Herbology books. Plus," she almost yelled in Lily's ears at her excitement of what she believed to be a counter to the younger girl's argument, "Al and I had an argument just today. Who says I'm planning on speaking to him again?"

Caleb snorted into his dinner and began choking. Rose had to pound him on the back as Lily asked him if he was alright before turning back to Erin.

"You, my dear friend, will not last a week without talking to my dear brother. I'm willing to bet on it."

She looked incredibly smug at her challenge, knowing Erin was going to take her up on it.

"How much?" Erin asked, her competitive nature coming alive.

Lily thought for a moment before she answered.

"I'm not sure I want to play for money. How about you owe me a favor? To be cashed in at my discretion?"

"Deal," and they shook on it.

"I'm not sure why I'm doing this," Erin told Rose in an undertone as conversation carried on around them. "I lost the last bet I made with a Potter."

"What bet was that?" Rose asked.

"That I'd do better than Al on our Transfiguration exam. The prat beat me, and I had to ask my dad about heating and cooling charms on the path to and from the greenhouses," Erin explained.

"You actually asked your dad for a favor on someone else's behalf?" Rose questioned.

Erin merely nodded in response. Rose couldn't think of anything else to say. Erin never went to her father for favors, even for herself.

"He did it, too. I was surprised." she told Rose. "Then again, Al is his favorite, unfortunately, and I told Dad it was for him."

Rose laughed at the less than pleased look on Erin's face.

"Well you have slightly more control over this bet, and not that I want you to ignore my cousin, but I have all sorts of faith in you to remain stubborn."

Erin grinned and thanked her friend.

"Oh! And don't tell Al. It'll be fun to watch him go spare, thinking I'm actually still mad at him."

"You're not, then? Still mad at him?" Rose clarified.

"Nah, not really. He means well, I suppose. Even though he's got a funny way of showing it most of the time."

Even though Erin smiled, it didn't quite reach her eyes. Rose reluctantly decided to let it be. This whole letting her friend deal with their own issues was going to be much, much harder than it sounded.

* * *

 **A/N: Anything you're excited to see play out? Any character you're missing and want to see more of again? Is Al going a little too far? If you favorite or follow, please leave a review!**

 ** _Les Miserables_ has been one of my favorite books since I read it about 4 years ago. Anyone else read it? It's a lot to get down but I definitely recommend it if you have the time. **

**Thanks Scose for the kind reviews! I have to approve guest reviews before they are posted so maybe that's why you thought the first one didn't work, but I went ahead and put both through. Glad you're enjoying it :)**

 **As of October 9th, I've been going back and updating the chapters a little bit. Mostly for grammatical errors. Nothing has changed story wise so you don't really need to go back and reread. I've only done the first four so far and I might do more, but the first few were the roughest so they received the most change.**

 **Happy Reading!**


	12. Sometimes love don't feel like it should

"I really don't see the point of this. What's so important about a priest? And I thought you said this book was about a man named John."

"It's Jean Valjean," Rose corrected her cousin with a chuckle. "And I'm sure it will all come into play eventually. How far are you anyway?"

She peered over Al's shoulder from where she sat next to him on the couch in the Heads' common room.

"You've only read twelve pages! We have to be through the first eighty by Thursday, and you have to make sure you have time to write your paper before then as well. What exactly did you do all week?"

Rose of course knew the answer to this question. Al had spent the past three days trying to get Erin to talk to him. She had held up her end of the bargain with Lily and had not spoken a word to Al since their argument on Tuesday. It was now Friday evening, and Al seemed like he was about to lose his mind.

"I'll have time this weekend," Al grumbled, turning back to his book. It was hard for Rose not to feel sorry for her cousin. He missed Erin, and he really thought she was still angry at him. He'd asked Rose multiple times how he could fix things, and it had been hard for her to keep her mouth shut. Giving into her desire to share the truth with her cousin was starting to look more and more appealing.

"She'll come around, Al. She's just going through a hard time. You know that."

"I was just trying to help, honestly," he insisted. Setting his book aside, he turned to face his cousin. "Should I just give up, then? Let her come to me? It's obvious that pushing her doesn't seem like the best option."

"Maybe that would be best. Just give her time. She's bound to start missing you eventually."

Al looked at Rose hopefully. "You think so?"

"Of course. It's not normal for you to ignore each other for this long. She probably misses you already."

Al grinned sheepishly before going back to his book. Rose shook her head. Mediating between her friends wasn't on the top of her to-do list for this year, especially when she didn't have to.

Unable to stay quiet and actually focus for long, Al tossed his book aside roughly ten minutes later and stretched.

"I can't take anymore of this right now. Where's Scorp? I haven't seen him all afternoon."

Rose's rather temperate mood plummeted at Al's question. The truth of it was, she didn't know for sure where her co-head was. Ever since their encounter with Shepard after Muggle studies on Tuesday, Scorpius hadn't been in a particularly joyful mood. He had taken to spending more time in the Slytherin common room, sometimes without Al, and never telling Rose anything about what he had been up to. It wasn't that he owed Rose an explanation, but he'd been rather aloof with her whenever she inquired about his day. Never fully committing to where he was or who he had been with. It had her more worried than she maybe should have been, but it was extremely out of character behavior. She scrunched up her face in displeasure at the situation as Al checked his watch and looked around the room, as if he were expecting his best friend to just appear out of nowhere.

"He wandered off after breakfast this morning, and I haven't seen him since, other than during class. Did he tell you what he was planning to do today?" she asked, trying not to sound too eager for information.

Al just shrugged and slumped back into the couch. "Nope. He did the same thing after lunch, and I haven't seen him since we got out of Potions. He wandered off then, too."

They were both lost in thought for a moment. Rose tried to go back to reading her book, but couldn't focus. Her brow remained furrowed, and her eyes stared straight ahead without seeing.

"Are you worried about him?"

The question startled Rose, and she glanced at her cousin, who had apparently been watching her. She looked at Al, an eyebrow raised in question, and he rolled his eyes at her.

"I'm not thick, Rose. I can tell you've been on edge since term started when it comes to Scorpius. I get that things have been a little tense because of what Shepard did the other day, but I also know something happened on the train."

"You do?"

"It was pretty obvious it didn't go splendidly just based on the fact that you didn't gush about how thrilling it was, not to mention you watched him like a hawk the whole rest of the ride and said basically nothing. What happened? Is something going on between you two that I should know about?"

Rose's eyes widened at his question. "Going on between us?"

Al sighed. "I know it's not outside the realm of possibilities that there are parts of your friendship that don't include me. Did you have a fight about something?"

Rose was relieved that he didn't seem to be hinting at what she herself had no desire to discuss at all, especially with how Scorpius had been acting lately. She could feel him getting further away, so admitting any feelings she might have to her cousin didn't seem like the best idea. It was looking more and more like nothing would come of them.

"No, we didn't fight. Let's just say that our little hallway incident with Shepard wasn't the first time he'd decided to speak his mind."

Al's face hardened in anger. "You're fucking kidding me. What happened?"

"Questioned Scorpius's authority in front of all the other students!" Rose said in indignation. Apparently her feelings on the matter had yet to fade. "As he was giving out instructions and doing a wonderful job showing leadership, by the way. I know we didn't really talk about the meeting, but he really did brilliantly. He even kept his cool after Shepard accused him of bribing the Headmistress for the job."

Al clenched his fists and looked as if he were restraining himself from tearing apart the room. "Bastard. Did he say anything else?"

"Called him Death Eater scum. Ruddy prat."

Unable to remain seated, Al started pacing in front of the fire. "No wonder he got to him so much the other day. That little shit head."

Rose was about to respond when the portrait swung open and Scorpius walked in.

"And where the hell have you been?" Al practically yelled at him.

Scorpius hadn't noticed his friends right away and started at Al's exclamation. He gave Rose a questioning look and a small smile, which she didn't return.

"Sorry, Mum. Can't a bloke spend some time in the library?" His words dripped with sarcasm as he placed his bag on the floor and flopped into the armchair closest to him.

"Sorry," Al mumbled, "I just haven't seen much of you this week."

"Have I been neglecting you, dear? I do apologize." He gave Al a teasing grin, who merely rolled his eyes and resumed his position on the couch. The jab even brought a smile out of Rose. Scorpius seemed to be doing just fine, at least at the present moment.

"Erin's been avoiding him too, so you'll have to excuse my cousin. He's a little emotionally vulnerable at the moment."

"I hate it when the two of you gang up on me," Al grumbled as Rose and Scorpius shared a laugh.

"I'm not avoiding you," Scorpius assured him. "I just have a lot more on my plate this year, being Head Boy and all."

"I know, I know," Al said. "Rose is right. I'm letting all this Erin stuff get to me. How're you doing, though, mate? You may not be ignoring me, but I still haven't seen you much this week."

Scorpius shrugged noncommittally, not making eye contact with either of his friends. "I've been pretty busy, like I said. And you'll see me more once practice starts up."

The boys began talking about Quidditch while Rose went back to her book, her previous conversation with her cousin forgotten in the comfortable and familiar atmosphere. It was common for her to study with Quidditch conversation as background noise.

They all headed to dinner together about an hour later, and the boys joined Rose at the Gryffindor table. Louis and Caleb were already there, as well as Bobby and Hugo. They were talking Quidditch as well.

"Might want to stuff it now, lads. If you don't want us hearing your strategies, that is," Al quipped. He and Scorpius sat with the two fifth year boys, and Rose took the spot across from them and next to the two sixth years.

"We were actually talking about the league," Caleb informed them. "Did you hear about what the Arrows did against Puddlemere?"

"James wrote me describing the whole thing in vivid detail," Al said.

"I thought Appleby wouldn't stand a chance this year," Hugo enthused.

"Wait, what happened?"

Everyone looked at Scorpius in something close to surprise. All except Al, who filled him in.

"Puddlemere only won by twenty once they caught the Snitch. The Arrows have a new Chaser who's a lot better than everyone expected. I got the letter this morning and didn't read it till after you'd run off at the end of lunch."

It was odd for one of them to know something of this nature and not the other. The boys didn't pay this much mind and went back to their discussion on Quidditch, but Rose was just reminded again that Scorpius hadn't been around as much as he normally was.

"What worries me is - Erin!" Al exclaimed.

Rose rolled her eyes and heaved a sigh at her cousin. "Yes, Al, we know. Can't you let it be? She'll talk to you when she's good and ready."

"No, she's -"

"Budge up, Rosie."

Rose looked over her shoulder to see her best friend, who'd apparently decided to join them for dinner.

"I was wondering if you'd be coming, seeing as you're ignoring my cousin and all," Rose commented as she moved closer to Caleb to make room for Erin.

"Yes, well, it's not really worth the effort."

"Does that mean you're talking to me again?"

"Are you up for going to visit Alice tomorrow?" Erin asked Rose, completely ignoring Albus, much to his displeasure. "She's invited us for lunch."

"But it's not a Hogsmeade weekend."

Erin shot a look at Hugo, who had inserted himself into their conversation, but it was Al who responded.

"Seventh years are allowed to go in every other weekend, not just the designated Hogsmeade ones."

"What? How come I didn't know that?" Hugo asked his sister.

"I'm almost positive it's come up before. You just don't pay attention to the things I say that have nothing to do with you."

"She's got a point."

"Nobody asked you, Finnigan."

"Anyway," Erin interrupted. "How about it? Scorpius, you're more than welcome to come too."

"I have plans. Thanks, though."

This time, everyone did look at Scorpius in surprise.

"With who?" Louis asked.

"I do have other friends, you know."

"No you don't," Hugo bluntly pointed out. Al was quick to reach behind Scorpius and slap his cousin on the back of the head.

"It's none of your business anyway, Weasley. I just have other plans, that's all."

He returned to his meal, but Hugo wasn't done making snippy comments.

"You know, it's very confusing when you refer to one of us as 'Weasley,' seeing as there are three of us sitting right here."

"Rose, permission to punch your brother?"

"I'm inclined to give it to you."

Hugo raised his hands in defeat and returned to his meal with a smirk on his face.

"Well then," Erin said, returning to the original conversation. "I guess it'll be a girls luncheon. That'll be nice."

"Oi! What's your problem, Longbottom?" Al now looked rather furious with Erin's dismissal of his presence. She lazily made eye contact with him, looking bored.

"I know I upset you the other day, but you know I only want what's best for you," Al continued. "I've always been there for you and done nothing but look after you our entire lives. You haven't always been a saint to me either, but I've done my best to forgive you for the shite you've put me through. So would you stop being such a bitch about all of this?"

Erin was now fuming. Rose was mad at Albus herself. He may be right about a lot of what he said, but he definitely didn't have to be such an arse about it. However, it did seem that his method was about to get him exactly what he wanted as Erin opened her mouth and let him have it.

"How dare you call me a bitch, you idiotic prick. You call this always being there for me? You can't mean to tell me that you actually give a fuck about my feelings. You've done enough damage to them that I'd be a fool to let you near them ever again. And take care of me? I've never asked you to do that, nor have I ever needed you to. As for the shite I've put you through, I'm sure you've deserved every fucking minute of it."

She violently stood and collected the school bag she had brought with her, before getting one last word in to a still livid looking Albus.

"If you'd been patient with me, like you never have been, I wouldn't have ignored you forever, you know. I thought you were decent enough to be forgiven eventually. Guess I was wrong."

Al's face was starting to lose it's hard edge as he realized she was about to walk away. She quickly told Rose she'd see her tomorrow, before throwing a short wave to everyone else and running from the Great Hall.

"You daft idiot, Al. Why? Why did you think anything that you just said was a good idea?"

If anyone else had said this, Al would have snapped at them. But Bobby Finnigan was the type of person that you could not easily be mad at, especially when they spoke the truth to you.

There was an awkward moment of silence before Rose spoke up.

"I told you to give it time, Al. I told you she'd come to you when she was good and ready. You had to push her, didn't you? This is about her, not you. And everything you just said to her was entirely about you."

"I know, Rosie! I know that. It's pretty bloody obvious I made a mistake. Get off my back and let me be miserable in peace, will you?"

He poked at his food and everyone let him be, but the worst thing about awkward moments during meals is that if you aren't done eating, you can't just get up and leave. Unless you'd rather be anywhere but there, hungry or not. Nobody seemed to have had their fill enough to leave, so the next few minutes were spent in uncomfortable silence that was only broken when Anastasia Bennett slid in beside Louis.

"Hey, Lou, any plans for the weekend?"

The girl had long, slick, chestnut hair that she was flirtatiously twirling around her finger. Her eyes were blinking a mile a minute as she bit her lip in a nervous fashion. Louis looked uncomfortable as the other boys tried to hide their chuckles at his expense.

"Oh, you know, just practicing some Quidditch, maybe getting some homework done."

She let out a giggle and rested her hand on his arm. "Sounds awfully boring if you ask me. But if you insist on being the studious type, perhaps you need a study partner?"

Louis awkwardly cleared his throat as he searched for a way to respond. He was a rather attractive bloke and the summer had been good to him. Not to mention the Veela blood that drew women to him through no effort of his own. Throughout their first week, Rose had seen half a dozen girls approach Louis in this way. And she only saw him at mealtimes, so she couldn't imagine how often he had to put up with this.

"Well, I usually study with Caleb. And sometimes Molly and Jill, since we're all in the same year. You're in fifth, though, right?"

For reasons unbeknownst to Rose, this made the girl blush and giggle yet again.

"That's right. I'm in your cousin Lily's year."

"You're also in her seat."

Everyone looked up to see the youngest Potter had shown up with Charlotte Bray in tow, and was glowering over Anastasia's shoulder. It was fairly well known that, despite sharing a dormitory for the fifth year in a row, the two had never gotten along. Lily crossed her arms and looked expectantly at her dormmate.

"Do you mind?"

Anastasia gave Lily a sarcastic smile and turned back to Louis. "Well, if you change your mind."

She slowly rose from the table and blew a kiss at Louis before walking away, not sparing Lily another glance.

"What a sleaze," Lily huffed as she and Charlotte sat down. "Sorry, Lou. She didn't contaminate you too much did she?"

Louis shook his head, relieved to be rid of the other girl's presence. "Thanks, Lily, I owe you one."

"You're welcome. So, what did I miss?"

Everyone went quiet again as they remembered what had happened a few minutes earlier. Al focused on his food while everyone else shared uncertain looks. Nothing could get by Lily that easily, and she quickly picked up on the mood - her brother's in particular.

"Wow, something big, then?" Charlotte asked, also noticing the tense atmosphere around the table.

"Did Al do something dreadful?"

"Shut up, Lily."

She ignored her brother and looked around at everyone else. No one seemed to want to talk. With Al being so on edge, they weren't exactly keen to throw him under the bus. He'd already put himself through enough that evening. Lily scrutinized them, trying to find her weakest link. Rose and Scorpius were a no-go. They were his best friends and didn't seem likely to crack. Hugo and Louis were oddly loyal to their older cousin, and Bobby was too good a bloke to do anything unkind. That left Caleb.

"Hey, Wood. Spill."

Caleb's eyes widened at being singled out, and he looked nervously between the two Potters. One was giving him a soft smile and batting her eyes, while the other was glaring daggers. The other boys wore bemused expressions. None of them believed for a second that Lily could get strong, masculine Caleb Wood to break, so they were all shocked to watch him crumble a moment later.

"Al may have yelled some things at Erin, and she may have screamed some things back at him."

The dropped jaws and sneers Caleb received from his friends caused him to turn red in shame. Lily looked extremely pleased before she fully comprehended what he said.

"Wait, what? Erin actually talked to you?" she asked her brother.

"If you can call it that, yeah. Why?"

"Because that means she owes me big time. Ha!" Lily grabbed a few rolls and a chicken leg before sprinting from the room.

"What the bloody hell did that mean?" Al asked the table at large. None of the boys seemed to have a clue, Charlotte had quickly followed after Lily, and Rose's silence was a dead giveaway, unfortunately for her. All the boys looked at her expectantly as she prolonged the inevitable by sipping her pumpkin juice. Finally setting her empty goblet aside, she told Al the truth.

"The main reason she hadn't said anything to you sooner, was because Lily bet Erin that she couldn't go a week without speaking to you. Turns out she was right, but I guess you already know that."

Al's face went from distraught to livid as she spoke.

"You mean to tell me that she wasn't all that angry with me, and that my prat of a little sister stuck her nose in my business and lost me my best friend in the process?"

"Looks that way, doesn't it?"

Hugo earned a smack on the head from Scorpius for that one.

Al's previously furious expression had all but disappeared, and Rose wasn't sure if she'd ever seen him look so pathetic. He was monstrously angry with his sister, but he couldn't believe he'd actually pushed Erin even further away when she wasn't all that mad at him to begin with. He hardened his expression and rose to leave.

"Why didn't you say anything, Rose? You knew all along? I've been asking you for ages how to fix this!"

"And I told you to let it be! I couldn't betray her trust when she asked me not to say anything."

"Al, mate, calm down."

"No, Scor. I've had enough of this. I can't believe any of you would do that to me, Rose."

He stormed out of the Great Hall without looking back.

"I'll go talk to him," Scorpius assured a distraught Rose. He reached across the table and squeezed her hand before exiting the Great Hall and going after his best friend.

"We should be going too. We have to meet the girls in the Library," said Caleb as he and Louis also rose to leave. Rose was soon left with just Hugo and Bobby as the crowd in the Great Hall started to dwindle around them.

"Rose, it'll all be alright," Bobby assured her. "It might be a little more complicated between Al and Erin, but your part in this is one of those things that isn't exactly black or white. It's rather gray, if you ask me. You did right by your friend by keeping your promise to her, and you did give Al the advice he needed. Knowing Al, he might've flown off the handle at her even if he did know the truth. That's not on you."

Hugo nodded along as his friend spoke. "He's right, Ro. Chin up. It'll blow over soon."

Rose gave the younger boys a small smile in gratitude, already feeling slightly better.

"Thanks. I know you're right. And I hope for all our sakes that my best friends are able to work things out before this gets really messy."

* * *

On Saturday, Rose got up early to meet Erin for breakfast. They had some shopping they wanted to do in Hogsmeade before going over to Alice's for lunch and planned to get an early start. Rose also had a feeling that Erin wanted to do everything in her power to avoid Albus, who was never much of an early riser on the weekends.

When she'd finished dinner the previous evening, Rose had gone to find Erin. When she did, Erin was more visibly upset than Rose expected. She was down underneath the castle where the boats that bring the first years dock. It was a rather eerie place, with walls that echoed and were covered in slime. She and Erin had rediscovered it in their third year, after Erin had gotten into a fit in front of everyone in the Great Hall when her dad wouldn't let her spend the Easter Holidays with Rose and her family, insisting that she spend it with her own. Erin had been going through a season of life where it was impossible for her to get along with her older brother and had claimed she "wanted nothing to do with that uptight prat." Professor Longbottom wasn't having it, and took away her Hogsmeade privileges for the following weekend. Rose and Erin had spent the day exploring the castle and wandering the grounds when they'd happened upon the docks. It became their place to go when either one of them needed to get away. They hadn't even told the boys about it. Scorpius was still just Al's friend to them at the time, and they'd decided to keep it their secret as the years went on and the friendships changed, just incase they ever needed something that was just theirs. Rose was thankful that they had.

As they sat there with their feet dangling over the water, Erin talked in a way that Rose had wanted her to for weeks. She talked about her grandmother and how much she missed her; about how she really was having a hard time with it even though she'd been denying it. She'd begrudgingly admitted that Al had been right all along and turns out she did need an emotional push to get over her hurdle.

"Unfortunately for him, he had to go and damage our friendship in the process, so he can't even rub it in my face that he was right."

She sniffled and rubbed at her eyes.

"I hate him. I really hate him."

Rose put her arm around her friend, letting Erin rest her head on her shoulder.

"But you don't. Not really, right?"

Erin let out a heavy sigh and sat up, grabbing a small stone that lay beside her and hurling it into the water. "I'm not so sure this time. I guess I don't, but he's always a right prick to me. Why should I care about him if he refuses to care about me?"

"Don't be daft, Erin. You know he wouldn't try so hard if he didn't care about you."

"Yes, well, he doesn't know how to show it very well. I know he's always so kind and caring with you and your cousins -"

"Not always."

Erin gave Rose a look at her interruption, and the redhead signaled for her to continue.

"But, I rarely get any of that. I get the tough exterior that he puts on for everyone else. Maybe once in a while I get a bit of his softer side, but it's not enough to make me secure in our friendship to the point where I can say 'don't worry, it's okay, I know he only does it cause he cares.'"

Rose had tried to convince Erin otherwise, but her insecurities were determined to get the better of her. Hopefully their shopping trip and time with Alice would do her some good and give her some much needed space. She already had a bit more of a spring in her step as they made their way from the castle into the village. It was still rather warm out, but it was early, so the day wasn't at its peak temperature yet, and there was a nice cool breeze in the air that promised the coming autumn.

They wandered around a few different shops as Erin looked for a housewarming gift for her sister. She eventually decided on a biscuit jar in the shape of a brown bunny, Alice's favorite animal. Rose had bought a carton of biscuits to fill it with at the bakery in town.

Alice's flat was above the Three Broomsticks, so the girls wandered around to the back entrance right around lunchtime. Since it wasn't an actual Hogwarts weekend, the village was rather quiet, save for the locals and a few other seventh years wandering around. Rose spotted Albus walking into Weasley Wizard Wheezes' Hogsmeade branch and quickly diverted Erin before they could be spotted.

They gave Alice her gifts as they entered, and she told them to make themselves at home as she put the finishing touches on lunch. For only being there for a few weeks, she was already very settled. The flat felt like a cozy log cabin. There was a comfortable sized seating area with a large fireplace surrounded by a loveseat and two armchairs. A bar with two stools under it separated the kitchen from the sitting room, and a table and chairs stood on the far end of the flat by a door that led to the bedroom suite. She'd given the place a feminine touch with flowers on the mantel, throw pillows on the furniture, and a floral patterned carpet spanning most of the sitting room floor.

As they ate, Alice filled them in on how things were going with the pub. She'd been in a bit of a funk for the past few years, and it was encouraging to both Erin and Rose to see that she found so much joy in her new situation.

"The locals have already started to take to me! It can be hard going from someone who they've known for so long to someone who looks like they haven't been out of Hogwarts for more than a handful of years, which is actually the case. But the rest of the staff has been so helpful, and everyone came around very quickly when Rosmerta gave a little introduction speech for me. She stayed on the first week til I got settled and made sure to give anyone who gave me a hard time a good talking to."

She was beaming as she regaled them with tales of the locals and all of the responsibilities she now had.

"It's strange doing all of the things that used to be Mum's job when I worked at the Leaky, but I'm also learning a lot about what she did that works for me, as well as figuring out my own way to get things done."

"Sounds like it's been going brilliantly, Ally," Erin enthused. "Is there anyone around who's your age, though? Do you get to have any social life?"

"Well, one of the other barmaids is in her upper twenties, but she has a kid and tries to spend every spare minute she has with him. We get along well when we work together, though. The other workers have been around for a long time, so it's a bit odd to be the boss of people so much older than me."

"Any interesting patrons, though? Any nice boys show up?" Rose teased as she and Erin grinned. Alice blushed and rolled her eyes at the younger girls.

"It's only been a few weeks. Even if there was someone, I wouldn't know him that well yet, would I?"

"Does that mean there is someone?"

Alice chuckled at her sister as she stood to start clearing the table.

"Erin, whether there is a bloke I've taken a fancy to or not, it's not the right time for that. I'm just getting settled, and I want to make sure I'm in a good place before I start to consider anything like that."

Rose and Erin grabbed their plates and followed Alice into the kitchen.

"Sounds like you're avoiding the question," Erin teased.

Alice just gave her a pointed look before ignoring her.

"I suppose that makes sense, though," Rose said, setting her plate on the bar next to Erin's as they both sat on the stools. "Make sure you've got yourself all sorted out before you attempt to sort anything out with someone else."

"Exactly. I haven't really dated since Hogwarts either, so I'm also slightly terrified of what's out there."

"They're all idiots. Every one of them," Erin grumbled.

Alice shared a questioning look with Rose before putting away the last of the food and returning to lean on the bar across from her sister.

"What's he done now?"

Erin gave Alice a confused look. "Who?"

"Albus, of course. Anytime you're pissed about boys, it's usually because he's done something stupid that's upset you. Am I wrong?"

"No," Erin said with a sour look. "He's being as big of a prat as ever. Yelled at me in front of the whole Great Hall. Called me a bitch, too."

Alice didn't look too pleased with this news. "Why'd he yell at you?"

Erin sighed and launched into the whole story - how he'd gotten on her case earlier in the week, how Lily had talked her into ignoring him, how he'd gone on about how much he cared and did for her, and how she ought to forgive him since he'd always forgiven her.

"I don't think I can, though. Not this time. I need to look after myself, like you said. That goes for any relationship, right?" she asked her sister, who nodded.

"Absolutely. But he is one of your oldest friends. I like to think I know Al pretty well, and no matter what you've been through together, I still believe he cares about you."

"Maybe so," Erin agreed. "But I don't think it's the same way I care about him."

Erin looked very upset as she spoke. She even looked like she might be close to tears. Rose wasn't entirely sure she'd ever seen Erin quite this affected by anything her cousin had done before.

"Erin, why is it bothering you so much this time? I understand that he wasn't exactly nice to you, but he does care about you."

A small tear fell from the corner of Erin's eye, and she hastily wiped it away.

"I know that. I know he's only trying to be my friend, but…"

She shared a hesitant look with her sister, who seemed confused before it dawned on her.

"You like him, don't you?"

Rose's eyes widened at Alice's words, and she turned to her best friend in surprise.

"What's it matter if I do?" Erin said in defeat. "I'd be an idiot if I did, and he definitely doesn't feel that way about me."

"Are you sure, though?" Rose asked, coming out of her state of shock. Thinking about it, she shouldn't be all that surprised by the turn the conversation had taken. And she'd always suspected that Al had a thing for Erin.

"Please. He's never shown any sign of thinking of me as more than a friend. Besides, I never said I liked him. Am I confused about how I feel? Sure, but he's not doing himself any favors if he does happen to like me."

"Fair point," Alice conceded. "What do you think, Rose? You probably know Al better than anyone."

Rose thought for a moment as the Longbottom sisters waited for her answer. In truth, Rose had a strong feeling that Al and Erin actually had very similar feelings for each other. But meddling was definitely something she knew she shouldn't do.

"I think you need to work out your friendship before you try to sort out anything else."

Alice nodded in agreement, and Erin gave them both a small, slightly disgruntled smile.

"Fine, you're probably right. And for the record, I never admitted to anything, and this conversation never leaves this room. Now, can we talk about something other than boys, please?"

* * *

 **A/N: Drama, drama, drama. If you favorite or follow, please be kind and leave a review! Happy reading :)**


	13. Why don't you come to your senses?

**A/N: All _Les Miserables_ characters and references don't belong to me! They are the property of the esteemed Victor Hugo. Carry on.**

* * *

"Alright, class, settle in. We've got a lot to go over today."

The seventh year Muggle Studies class pulled their chairs into a circle, as was custom for their Thursday lessons. It had been two weeks since Rose and Erin had visited Alice, and Al and Erin still weren't speaking. There'd been many uncomfortable moments when they'd had to sit near each other in class or pass each other in the hallways, and the only times they acknowledged each other were when one of them would make a snide remark at the other and it would threaten to escalate into something bigger. Apparently, Erin's decision to try and make up with Al had gone right out the window. This meant that Al and Scorpius sat on one side of the classroom, while Erin and Rose were on the other.

"So, who'd like to give us our recap as far as story goes?" Professor Bray asked to get their discussion started.

Angie Archer was quick to raise her hand. It had almost become tradition for her to answer this question, even though they were only a month into term.

"Well, after being away from her home for twelve years," the Ravenclaw began, "we see Fantine return and work in this Mr. Madeleine's factory. He's one of the wealthiest men in town, although this Javert character suspects he's actually Jean Valjean. Fantine loses her job, turns to prostitution, and is eventually rescued by Mr. Madeleine who she feels is actually responsible for her situation. Meanwhile, Javert is on the hunt to discover Madeleine's true identity."

Professor Bray looked reasonably satisfied with this answer and nodded. "Thank you, Miss Archer, as always. I think that covers all our bases. Besides," he addressed the rest of the class at large, "you all should have done your reading so you'll have a clear idea of what's going on. So, anything in particular jump out at anyone in this section? Remember, we're looking for understanding of human nature, and parallels to the current world around you."

There was the usual moment of silence before the first brave soul spoke up. Peter Macmillan, a rather stuffy Hufflepuff, was the first to raise his hand.

"Well, Madeleine certainly shows heroics. That's definitely not something new to the wizarding world. He saves children from burning buildings and he saves a man from a crashed cart. He definitely has a bit of a hero complex."

"Good. Anyone else?"

Malcolm looked expectantly around the room. This time, much to Rose's surprise, it was Al who spoke up.

"Well, despite the whole hero thing, he also seems to want to take care of people. Make up for his mistakes."

Rose felt Erin tense up as Al looked straight at her. She glared at him in return and shot her hand in the air.

"While Madeleine may be doing what he thinks is best, he is the one who put Fantine back out on the streets in the first place. Doesn't look like helping to me."

"He was only doing his job. And he ended up helping her in the end," Al shot back. Apparently, neither of them found hand raising to be necessary anymore as Erin responded.

"But it was probably too late! Everything she had to go through? It's hard to come back from all of that if it's even possible at all. She might have accepted his help but I doubt she'll ever forgive him."

"He was looking out for her! A mistake was made and I don't think it was even his fault. Maybe if she'd just been honest in the first place, none of this would have happened."

"That has nothing -"

"Oi! Potter, Longbottom. That's enough," Professor Bray said. He looked between the two fuming students with trepidation before continuing. "You both make some fair points. However, Fantine was just _accused_ of wrongdoing. She never lied. She was only trying to provide for her child and others spread lies about her. I think we can see this in our own lives. Anyone have the word for this?"

Rose slowly put her hand in the air, watching her best friends continue to glare at each other. "Gossip, Professor Mac. Spreading rumors."

Bray smiled at his student. "Any good examples in your own life when gossip was rather detrimental? That you'd feel comfortable sharing, of course."

Rose thought for a moment before something occurred to her. "Well, not to use a specific example, but whenever anyone says anything about someone behind their back could be considered gossip. But I think I've seen it do the most harm when gossip is used to directly undermine a person's position or authority or character. Even if something isn't true, it can have an effect on a person's life. We see that with Fantine. She did nothing wrong. She sold all she had to earn the money to provide for her daughter. Her intentions were honorable and she worked hard, but that didn't matter, as long as someone had something else to say about it. We all have the power to use our words to either build people up or tear them down. The later isn't all that hard to do, unfortunately."

Malcolm was smiling proudly. "Five points for Gryffindor, Miss Weasley. That's very wise and insightful of you. Now, what about this Javert character," he addressed the class. "First impressions?"

The class continued with slightly less tension. Erin continued to wear a frown and Al looked rather upset as well. Neither looked at each other the rest of the lesson. Rose, however, was doing everything she could to catch Scorpius' eye. She hoped he'd heard what she said. Devon Shepard didn't seem fazed by her subtle admonition, but she wanted Scorpius to be encouraged by her words. Anything anyone ever said about him was nothing more than gossip and rumors.

He'd grown rather surly the past few weeks. They'd had their first prefect meeting the day after she and Erin had gone to Alice's, and Devon Shepard had continued to be a thorn in his side, but it was usually in ways that were subtle enough that he couldn't exactly get in trouble for it most of the time. Scorpius had retreated further into himself and he'd been spending more and more time away from Rose. They hadn't seen each other much anyway with their best friends feuding, but even the time they used to spend together in the Heads' common room had all but disappeared.

She blamed Al and Erin for creating the divide and allowing him to pull even further away. She blamed herself for not knowing how to be a good friend to him. And she blamed people like Devon Shepard, who wouldn't know what being fair meant if it kicked him in the teeth.

* * *

"You do realize that your behavior is directly affecting my life as well, don't you? I've barely spoken to Scorpius the past few weeks, and the only times I get to talk to Al is when we have our free period together and during History of Magic."

"How come you haven't seen Scorpius? Don't you two share a dorm?"

Rose eyed Erin shrewdly. They were sitting in the joint common room and going over their Defense Against the Dark Arts homework for the following Friday morning. The two boys in question were on the other side of the room. It was driving Rose crazy to be keeping such a distance.

"A common room. Stop changing the subject."

"I seem to recall you two being very close at the end of last year. I distinctly remember a rather friendly moment in the library. What ever came of all that?"

Rose grunted in frustration but decided to humor her friend for a moment. "Our blond Slytherin friend has been spending more and more time away from the Heads' common room. I can only guess he's been in the Slytherin one. I check the library and the joint common room, and nothing. It's actually rather rare that he's in here right now so it's very frustrating that I can't talk to him," she said pointedly. Erin just continued to feign innocence.

"I think he's with Al in the Slytherin common room a lot of the time," Rose continued. "But I've found him without Scorpius quite a bit too."

Erin looked slightly concerned at this interesting turn of events. "Strange. Has he been getting anymore trouble from Shepard?"

"Our first prefect meeting didn't go as well as I'd hoped in that area," Rose said with a resigned sigh. "He was being rather snide and making jabs. I finally had enough towards the end and took points from him so I'm hoping he's a lot better next meeting. Scorp was rather chummy with Eden Avery and Eddie Marsh, though."

Erin thought this over for a moment.

"Isn't Marsh on the Quidditch team with him? That's not that odd, is it?"

"I just don't see him with the Slytherins all that much," Rose insisted. "Eden's not that bad, but she was his childhood friend and never stuck up for him when the rest of the house practically disowned him. I guess I just don't trust them."

Erin waved off her concerns. "Enough about that. I'm sure he can handle himself. You probably have nothing to worry about. What about you, though?"

Rose gave Erin a questioning look, so she elaborated.

"I know you've never exactly said anything, but I know you, Rose. You're more upset about all this than an ordinary friend would be. It's been written all over your face for days how much you miss him. I'm sorry for the role I've played in the distance between you, but come on. There must be something going on there."

Rose didn't say anything. She turned her attention back to her textbook for a few moments, and Erin impressed her with her patience as she sat back and waited.

"I don't know, really," Rose finally said, refusing to make eye contact. "I mean, I know he means a lot to me."

Her eyes drifted across the room to rest on the Head Boy where he sat by the fire, his head in a book and his lip caught between his teeth in concentration.

"I've completely lost it, I think. I mean, he's been practically ignoring me all year, and yet here I am, pining away for something that barely resembles a friendship at the moment."

Rose turned back to her friend. Erin looked like a mix between pitying and amused.

"What?" Rose asked.

"I've never seen you like this before. You really like him, don't you?"

Rose blushed and mumbled an unintelligible reply.

"What's that?" Erin asked with a chuckle.

"I said I don't know. I'd rather not commit to anything at the moment. Especially with the way things are," Rose grumbled.

Erin grinned brilliantly at her. "We're rather pathetic, aren't we? Pining after two boys who either won't give us the time of day or think the proper way to speak with us is to hurl insults."

Rose chuckled along with her friend. "We are rather sad, aren't we?"

They sat in contemplative silence for a moment before Erin sat forward, looking determined.

"We're better than this. We don't need them. Let them come to us and apologize. We can't just sit around and feel sorry for ourselves. Maybe the friendships will work themselves out eventually, but moping about it won't help."

Rose looked bemused at Erin's enthusiasm. "Alright then. I agree. We've managed to avoid talking about them for the past few weeks so we won't let it bother us now. We press on. Let's not dwell on it, okay?"

"Brilliant."

Feeling marginally better about life, they got back to their books, but it wasn't long before Erin interrupted Rose with a question about the homework.

"I don't know why this is so hard for me. I don't have any issues with Transfiguration or Charms theory. Why can't I manage to understand Defensive theory?" she said in frustration after failing to grasp Rose's explanation.

Erin's eyes drifted over to the other side of the common room where Al was talking with Caleb and Louis rather than focusing on his work.

"Al's always been able to explain it to me. I guess he just gets me that way. He gets me in a lot of ways, actually. I know I'm mad at him, and I think I have every right to be, but damn if I don't miss the lunatic."

Rose looked at her friend in sympathy. After avoiding the topic of both Scorpius and Al for the past few weeks, it wasn't surprising that it was all unwillingly spilling out now.

"I know he cares," Erin went on. "Even though I've accused him otherwise. And I know he has a hard time showing it. Maybe I'm being too hard on him."

"You could talk to him, you know."

Erin shook her head. "No way. He needs to apologize to me, not the other way around. I've done nothing wrong."

Rose braced herself before sharing the part of the story that Erin didn't know. "Please don't be angry, but, he knows about the bet."

Erin's eyes widened. "The bet? Did Lily tell him?"

Rose grimaced. "Not exactly. She kind of stopped by the table and alluded to it. I was left to fill in the details."

Erin slumped back on the couch in resignation. "No wonder he's so angry."

"Yes, he didn't take it all that well."

Erin shot her a look before groaning and covering her eyes. "This is all so horrible. And I thought we were done talking about boys."

"You're the one who brought it up again."

"Brought what up again?" Louis asked as he and Caleb approached their corner of the room.

"None of your business," Erin grumbled as the boys settled onto the floor between them and the fire.

"No need to be so rude," Louis teased.

"What are you lot doing over here anyway? Not that we mind, really. It's nice to see you're not choosing sides." Rose gestured to where the boys had just come from.

"No problem," Louis grinned at her.

"But did you need something?" Rose asked. "We were working on some homework."

"Maybe _you_ were," Erin grumbled, looking at her textbook with disdain.

Louis looked at Rose with much too innocent eyes. "Can't a bloke just want to visit with his cousin and her friend?"

"Your cousin's friend? Is that all I am to you, Louis?" Erin pouted.

"Whatever Longbottom, you know you hate me."

Erin laughed and stuck her tongue out at him.

Rose chuckled at her friend's antics. Erin was basically an extension of the Weasley family. All of the Longbottoms were. It made her happy to see her friend interacting with her family the same as always, despite her falling out with Albus.

"But really, Lou," Rose insisted. "What's up?"

Both boys communicated silently with each other before Caleb spoke up. "Al actually asked us to come over, although he told us not to tell you that."

"The prat," Erin said with a scoff. "What's he want?"

"He wanted to see if you were working on the Herbology homework. He's a little stuck, apparently," Caleb elaborated.

"Ha! If he wants my help he has to apologize to my face. He'll get nothing from me until I see some good old fashioned groveling."

Caleb and Louis both seemed to find the situation highly amusing. Rose could only roll her eyes at her friend's dramatics.

"Well I guess we'll just tell him we tried," Louis said, not seeming too miffed about it.

Erin suddenly sat forward. Her face lit up as if she'd been struck by a brilliant idea. "Hey, any chance you want to turn double agent?"

The boys shared a grimace before Caleb let her down. "To be honest, we really didn't want to get in the middle of this, so we had no real intention of spying in the first place."

"Come on," Erin implored. "I'll make it worth your while."

"How so?" Louis asked.

"Well, being a girl," Erin said with a coy grin. "It's not that hard for me to put a good word in if there should happen to be a certain young lady you're interested in."

Rose rolled her eyes yet again at her friend, but both boys looked interested.

"Really?" Louis asked.

"Really. I could get you the inside scoop. Let you know how your chances stand."

"Tempting," Caleb said. "But I'd rather you not be privy to my personal life."

Erin scowled at him and turned to Louis. "What about you, Weasley? Do we have a deal?"

Louis looked like he was about to agree, when they were joined rather abruptly by Lily and Lucy.

"Will you ever learn to stop making bets with my family, Longbottom?"

Erin's face was likely to turn into a permanent scowl as she shot yet another one at Lily before dropping the hand she'd extended towards Louis.

"No need to gloat, Potter. Besides it was a deal, not a bet. Big difference."

Lily waved her off as she took a seat on the couch next to Erin. "Doesn't matter. Look, I actually came over to apologize."

Everyone stared at Lily in surprise. She tended to be rather stubborn and didn't apologize lightly. James and Al were the same way. They definitely all took after their mum in that regard.

"What, can't a person grow?" she snapped at their gaping expressions. Rose gave her an encouraging smile. She'd filled Lily in on some of the details of Erin and Al's fallout the previous evening.

"What are you apologizing for?" Erin asked.

Lily looked properly ashamed of herself now. "I know I make light of things, but I also know what's going on with you and Al is partially my fault. Rose told me that he knows about the bet and that might be why he hasn't apologized. So I'm sorry."

"Lil, please," Erin insisted. "Don't be too hard on yourself. I'm choosing to blame no one but your brother for the way things are. He started this whole mess in the first place."

Lily looked comforted by these words. "Good. Does that mean I can still claim my favor at some point?"

"Sure thing," Erin said with a laugh.

They carried on, the six of them just talking for a while, and they were eventually joined by Molly and Jill as well. Jill was talking to Erin and Molly about the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend while Lucy was trying to help Caleb and Louis understand their Transfiguration homework, when Al strolled up, closely followed by a cautious looking Scorpius.

"Someone call a family meeting and forget to invite me?" he lightheartedly jabbed. The two newcomers were greeted by the majority of the people sitting by the fire. Erin chose to stare blankly ahead while Rose watched Scorpius with her tongue tied.

"Hugo isn't here. So technically it's not the whole family," Lucy innocently pointed out, thinking Al was serious. She didn't always read sarcasm well and it was amusing to the rest of them, though the unspoken understanding was that they didn't give her much grief for it.

"I think it was a joke, Luce," Molly told her sister not unkindly, Lucy blushed at her blunder.

"It's alright, Lucy," Al assured her, taking a seat on the arm of the couch. "My wit's a little too advanced for certain people to understand."

Scorpius stood behind the chair that Rose sat in, looking unsettled as everyone gave uncomfortable chuckles, none of them finding it all that funny of a remark, and sensing the general discomfort in the room.

Up until that point, Al had completely ignored Erin where she sat on the couch, right by the arm he was sitting on. But after his arrogant remark towards Lucy, she couldn't take it any longer.

"Pompous arse," she said under her breath as she stood and started gathering her things.

"Care to say that to my face, Longbottom?" he said arrogantly.

For a moment she tensed, then stood up, threw her bag over her shoulder, and faced Al head on. Her jaw was clenched and her eyes cold. "I called you a pompous arse, Potter. Is that a problem?"

Al stood to tower over her. His arms crossed. "You think you know better than everyone else, Longbottom? Think you're better than everyone?"

He was angrier than Rose expected him to be. His face was turning red and his breathing was heavy.

"No. That's you, Potter. You care about your family, maybe, but you don't do a great job of showing it. What you just said to Lucy? That was completely uncalled for and I bet everyone else here would like to slap you for it. And you're shit at caring about anything else too. It's not worth your time or energy. Even your friends."

"You're one to talk! You go on and on about how I don't care about you and how I'm a heartless bastard, but when was the last time you showed me you cared?"

This seemed to silence Erin. She still looked extremely pissed off, but also curious about what he had to say. He relaxed his stance, almost in resignation.

"You've been so selfish, Erin. It's driving me fucking mad trying to figure you out."

"Then stop trying to figure me out! Merlin, Albus. Just stop!"

"Why? Cause you want me to stop caring about you the way you've stopped caring about me?"

"I never stopped caring about you!" she exclaimed.

"Rubbish!" he challenged.

'It's not rubbish, you prat! I've shown you a hundred times how I feel about you."

"I repeat," Al said with a scowl. "Rubbish."

Erin practically growled in frustration before stepping forward, gripping Al's face, and forcefully pulling it towards her own. She kissed him hard and just long enough for him to realize what was happening before she pulled away, smacked him across the face, and stormed out of the common room.

Al stood there dumbstruck, his arms slightly outstretched from reaching for Erin just as she walked away. A few people cheered at Erin's retreating figure, and others looked on with their jaws dropped. Rose watched the whole thing with wide eyes. At some point, Scorpius had come around the side of Rose's chair and perched on the arm. They watched Al stare at the door Erin had just gone through for a few moments before running off after her, but not before stopping to utter a quick yet sincere apology to Lucy.

"Who'd of thought, eh?" Scorpius said in an undertone to Rose. He looked highly amused at the turn of events.

"Hello to you, too."

She addressed him with raised eyebrows and a slightly haughty expression. He gave her a guilty one in return.

"Sorry. I know I haven't been around much, but hopefully this fixes some of that," he said, gesturing towards the door their two best friends had just retreated through.

Rose smiled at him as everyone around them continued to discuss what had just happened.

"I sure hope so. No telling what's happening out there, though. Knowing them, this might not fix anything. They're both too stubborn for their own good."

Scorpius chuckled and nudged her with his elbow.

"Have a little faith, Rosie."

She grinned even bigger as he winked at her. Having her best friend back was one of the best feelings in the world.

* * *

 **A/N: It's been a while! Hope you enjoyed this latest installment. Everything is rather relationship heavy at the moment and I'm not doing a great job of beating the Bechdel test, but maybe one of these days! No telling where all of this will lead to :)**

 **Happy Reading and please review! I have a lot of people following the story but haven't heard from quite a few of you and it would be great if I did! I might even update faster with a little inspiration :)**


	14. The sinners are much more fun

"I told you - nothing really happened."

It had been the same line all day, no matter how the question was phrased. Exasperated by her cousin's stubborn front, Rose turned to Scorpius in hopes of receiving some back up. The blond Slytherin merely shrugged and continued reading.

They were in the library the day after Al and Erin had their shouting match and subsequent kiss in the joint common room. Rose had complained to Scorpius earlier in the day that she hadn't been able to get a moment alone with Erin, who had barely been present during lunch and had run off after their last class of the day and hadn't been seen since. Apparently, she had settled with grilling her cousin for details instead.

"You went after her and you said you found her. You mean to tell me that's all?"

Al sighed and raised his eyes to his cousin, seeming annoyed that she was interrupting his studies. "We talked, and then I walked her back to her common room."

Rose waited expectantly, assuming there was more to the story, while Al went back to his homework.

"And?"

Throwing down his quill with a heavy sigh, Al looked up at an intensely curious Rose in resignation. "Look, I caught up with her, apologized for being a prat, and she apologized for everything as well. That was it."

Rose watched her cousin suspiciously as Scorpius tried very hard to contain his mirth. Both cousins were equally stubborn, and it was comical to watch one try to break the other.

"Care to explain what happened in the joint common room, then?"

Al shrugged and averted his eyes from his cousin's probing gaze, picking up his quill and resuming his studying. "You'd have to ask Erin."

There was a ten second pause, and then -

"Why do-"

"Rose," Al snapped."Look. I'm doing homework on a Friday afternoon. Shouldn't that make it obvious that I don't want to talk about it?"

Realizing she would get nothing else from Al, Rose cast one more pleading look at Scorpius, who merely shook his head. She slumped back in her seat, picked up her own textbook, and let it be.

Scorpius would be lying if he said he wasn't curious as well. He'd always wondered if Al had a thing for Erin, but the thought that she might feel the same hadn't really crossed his mind. It had been a bit of a surprise to him when she planted one on his best friend. He'd tried getting Al to talk as well, but he'd clammed up then too, only saying exactly what he'd just told Rose.

Thinking back, though, Scorpius wasn't sure he could really remember a time when he and Al had ever had an in depth conversation about girls. Part of the reason for that might have been because Scorpius had never been keen on sharing his particular interests in that area. And Al didn't really open up unless you pushed him to. Scorpius had never been much of a pusher, choosing to let his friends figure out things on their own, and being there for them when they needed it. Al was the sort of person who only admitted he needed help or advice when it came to his homework.

Scorpius was pulled from his thoughts by Erin joining them - sitting across from Al and next to Rose, who perked up when her best friend entered. He could tell she was expecting something to happen now that they were in the same room again, but Scorpius was of the opinion that, if anything was actually going to happen between Al and Erin, they weren't likely to figure things out in front of him and Rose. While the younger Potter boy had vented his frustrations about his friendship with Erin to him and Rose a few weeks previously, Al tended to be rather private and usually kept a cold front when it came to his emotions, and Erin usually ran from hers. Especially when there was a lot at stake. With the exception of their most recent fallout, Al had never really said much in regard to his friendship with Erin, but Scorpius knew him well enough to know that it was of the utmost importance to him. He wouldn't do anything to risk it.

"Thank Merlin you're here," Al said as Erin sat down. "I've been stuck on the uses of the Wiggentree for ages. I know it's guarded by bowtruckles, but I don't think Hagrid covered much about the tree itself in Care Of Magical Creatures."

Erin looked at him skeptically. "You're doing homework on a Friday afternoon?"

He gave her an annoyed look. "Please just help me."

Erin pulled out her textbook and started flipping to the section Al was in. "Is there nothing in here about it?" she asked, doing a marvelous job of ignoring the crazy eyed looks Rose was throwing both of them. She was currently casting wide eyed glances between the two in anticipation of whatever it was she expected to happen.

"Not much. Your dad said we'd need other sources for this essay anyway."

Al started shuffling through the books he'd grabbed earlier and had laid out in front of him, Erin helping. Scorpius stifled a snigger as Rose put in her best effort to pay attention to her homework instead of her friends, but when Al cracked a joke that made Erin laugh, she couldn't hold it in.

"Alright. What's going on? There has to be something I don't know. Al won't tell me anything," she said, suddenly turning towards a rather startled Erin. "But you can't mean to tell me that all you two did was apologize and move on. You kissed him and that was it? Did it mean nothing to you? Are you using my cousin? I swear, Erin. If you so much as think - "

"Rose, calm down!" Al interrupted, reaching out and resting a hand on Rose's arm that was being vehemently used to express her emotions on the subject. He shot Erin an apologetic grimace before addressing his cousin. "We can handle ourselves. Will you please let this be?"

Erin was looking at Rose as if she had gone crazy. "Rose, what's gotten into you? It was barely even a snog. What's the big deal?"

"Big deal? The big deal is that you can't just kiss your best friend without emotions getting involved. It just doesn't happen. You mean to tell me it meant nothing?"

"Rose, please," Erin began, growing more uncomfortable. "We're perfectly capable of -"

She was cut off by Al leaning across the table and pulling her into a kiss. She responded immediately, her hands going into his hair, deepening the kiss, while Al's hand moved from Rose's arm to grip hers.

Rose and Scorpius stared wide eyed.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Rose said it as if she didn't quite believe what she was seeing. Eventually, the two broke apart, breathing heavily, and Al smirked at Rose.

"See? No big deal."

He shot Erin a cheeky grin and went right back to his homework, but she seemed to have been much more affected than Al. Rose thought she saw a glimmer of emotion behind Erin's dazed look before she shook herself out of it and returned to working on Herbology with Al.

Scorpius wasn't sure what to make of the whole thing, but if his friends wanted to snog each other for the hell of it, who was he to stop them? It wasn't like he had a lot of experience in the matter. There had been a few Hogsmeade dates and a few obligatory kisses at the end of the evening, but nothing to write home about. The only girl he ever did write home about was unknown to him in that way. He still hoped that maybe one day that would change, but he knew it wouldn't if he kept insisting on pushing her further away.

He was pulled from his musings by Rose gathering her things and announcing she was going back to the Heads' common room to change before dinner, and not so subtly asking Erin to join her. Rose practically dragged Erin from the room as soon as she had all of her books together.

Al sniggered and shook his head as they left, giving Scorpius a rather arrogant look.

"Women."

He turned back to his homework and Scorpius let out a bark of laughter, causing Al to look at him questioningly.

"You realize you're a bit of a prat, don't you?"

Al tried to look offended, but couldn't quite hide his grin. "Maybe," he said with a slight chuckle. "But at least I've snogged a girl in the past twenty-four hours."

Scorpius slugged him playfully in the arm, making Al laugh even harder.

"Twice, I might add."

Scorpius laughed along with his friend, before a rather panic stricken Bobby Finnigan rushed up, warning them the librarian was on her way, threatening to ban the rabble makers for life. They quickly packed their things and fled from the library, chuckling the whole way out.

"Want to go for a fly after dinner?" Al asked as they made their way toward the Great Hall. "I wanted to go over some of the plays I'd like you to work on with Corbin and Eddie next practice."

"As captain, shouldn't you be the one teaching them?" Scorpius asked with a mocking tone.

"Normally, yes. But I want to focus on what Slater is doing at the goal posts rather than what my three very experienced Chasers are up to. He might show promise for a third year, but he's still a rookie, and I haven't gotten to spend much time coaching him."

"Fair point, Captain."

"So you can come tonight?"

There was an uncomfortable pause as Scorpius seemed hesitant to answer. "I actually have plans tonight."

Al looked like he was trying to figure out if there was something that he'd forgotten about. "Prefect meeting?"

"No, those are on Sundays."

Scorpius didn't offer any further information, hoping Al wouldn't become too nosey.

"What are you doing, then?" he asked. "It has to be important if you'll blow off Quidditch for it."

Scorpius continued to hold his tongue. He could tell Al was growing agitated with his closed off approach to the situation.

"You have a date or something? Is there a girl I don't know about?" Al asked with a teasing grin. Scorpius rolled his eyes at his friend.

"Not that it's any of your concern, but no, there's no girl."

Al looked like he was about to press for more information, so Scorpius quickly took the opportunity to shift the focus off himself.

"Speaking of girls, is there really nothing going on with you and Erin? Or did you just not want to tell Rose?"

Momentarily thrown by the conversation being turned on himself, Al floundered for a moment and almost denied everything before Scorpius gave him a pointed look and he relented. For a moment, Al looked like he was thinking things over, trying to formulate his response. They reached the doors to the Great Hall and he stopped before looking uncertainly at his friend.

"Well, not that it's any of your concern," he said, using Scorpius's previous words against him, "but that's really all that happened."

Sensing there was more, and that Al was actually keen to share, Scorpius pressed on. "But you'd maybe like it if something else did?"

Al's cheeks turned slightly pink and he just stared at Scorpius for a moment, almost willing him to understand without having to actually say it. Scorpius just looked at him expectantly, knowing full well what his friend was trying to do.

"I _will_ make you say it. You'll get no help from me."

Al scowled at Scorpius' cheeky grin and shoved past him and into the Great Hall, his best friend laughing and trailing behind him.

"Come on. You may act all nonchalant, but I think I know you better than that."

Scorpius watched Al expectantly as they sat across from each other at the Slytherin table. Al merely started loading up his plate with shepherd's pie and ignored him until he couldn't take the staring anymore.

"I don't want to talk about this here," he said, shoveling a forkful of food into his mouth.

"Why?"

Al looked at Scorpius exasperatedly. "Cause I'm not keen on spilling my guts to _anyone_ , let alone the entire Great Hall."

"Fine. As long as you admit that there's more to all of this than what you told your cousin - and that cheeky little display you put on in the library - I'll leave it be for now," Scorpius said with a grin. Al was focused on his food, but Scorpius was able to discern the slightest of nods before he grinned, shook his head with a laugh, and turned to his own meal.

* * *

"Is there a reason you're dragging me when I came willingly?"

Rose loosened her grip on Erin's arm, looking guilty.

"Sorry. It's just been hard to get you alone lately. Are you avoiding me?"

"By lately do you mean today? Because I'm pretty sure we've spent the past few weeks almost exclusively in each others company."

"Fine, yes, I mean today."

Erin chuckled at her. "It just so happens that I had some family stuff to take care of. Dad's been going through some of Gran's old things and wanted me to look at some of it. See what I wanted."

Rose temporarily forgot what she had intended to question Erin about. Her grandmother was still a difficult subject to talk about.

"How was that?"

Erin gave a noncommittal shrug. "It was okay. It's strange to think I'll never see her wear that ridiculous hat again or drink from her favorite teacup."

"Did you keep anything?" Rose asked.

"I did, actually," said Erin. Her whole demeanor seemed to be more at peace with her reality than she had been a few short weeks ago. "There was an old sweater of hers that she used to wear a lot and isn't horrifying to look at, so I could actually get away with wearing it around. Alice gets her tea set, which makes sense, but she had this wonderful afghan that she knitted herself that Dad let me have as well. I used to cuddle up with her under that and she'd tell me stories. Mostly about Dad and my grandparent's heroics during the wars. It was some of my favorite times with her. He knew it was special to me."

Erin's voice had begun to shake as she spoke, and Rose linked her arm through hers.

"You seem to be handling all of this pretty well," said Rose.

Erin gave a small watery smile and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

"I guess I've finally started to accept it all. I kind of had a moment in Dad's office, but he helped me through it. It all smelled like her. You know, that eucalyptus mixed with tea and whatever that smell was that was so uniquely her. It just kind of hit me that I'm never going to see her again."

A tear fell down Erin's cheek and she rested it on Rose's shoulder, showing a rare moment of vulnerability that Rose was encouraged to see. They walked in silence for a few moments - Rose knowing that her presence was all that she needed to provide - and by the time Erin had stopped sniffling, Rose had remembered the reason she wanted to get Erin alone in the first place.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

Erin, head no longer on Rose's shoulder, nodded with a content smile on her face.

"Is there really nothing going on with you and Al?"

Erin rolled her eyes but wore a bemused smile. "There's really nothing going on. Nothing happened, we didn't talk about it, and I don't think we really plan to. At least…"

Rose waited while Erin wore a disgruntled look. "At least what?"

Erin heaved a sigh. "At least that's what I thought until what just happened in the library."

Rose practically skipped in excitement. This whole romance between two of her best friends was starting to seem like a real possibility. She was constantly going back and forth between feeling skeptical and thrilled about the prospect. That moment happened to be one where she felt the latter.

"So it means something! I know you've hinted at having feelings for him recently, but you never actually came out and said so I wasn't sure. Are you going to talk to him?"

Erin was a little overwhelmed by Rose's enthusiasm.

"I actually hadn't thought about it much. To be honest, I think he tried to say something the other night, but I didn't really let him," she said guiltily.

"Erin! Why?"

"I didn't want it to be such an emotional response!" she said defensively. "I know kissing him was one on my part, but I didn't want him thinking he owed me anything, so I decided to give him an out. And he took it."

They'd reached the common room and Rose sat on the couch rather than moving to her dorm to change.

"What did you say to him, exactly?"

Erin sat down next to her with a heavy sigh. At this point she'd fully committed herself, so it seemed she realized she might as well tell her everything.

"He followed me, which I wasn't exactly expecting. I'd only managed to make it one flight up so he caught me on the second floor. I didn't really want to give him the option of saying anything he might regret, so I just started apologizing. I'd been wanting to anyway, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity. I ended up apologizing for the whole kiss thing too and said it didn't mean anything, and he accepted it. All of it. Barely even bat an eye."

She seemed distant from the words she was saying, almost as if they didn't apply to her own life.

"So I know I did the right thing," she said, meeting Rose's eyes and giving her a sad smile.

"But what about what happened in the library?"

Erin scoffed. "You heard what he said, 'no big deal.' He could just as easily have been kissing a bowtruckle."

"I highly doubt that. And you just said it might have changed things."

Looking resolved to the situation, Erin gave Rose a tight smile and stood. "Well, maybe I thought better of it. But enough of this. I'm starving. Go get yourself ready and we'll head to dinner, yeah?"

Rose decided to let Erin have this one. She'd pushed her enough for now, and Erin had given much more than Rose expected. In all honesty, it had probably exhausted the girl.

Rose quickly changed and they headed down to the Great Hall. Spotting the boys at the Slytherin table, they headed to join them, but not before Rose triple checked that Erin was okay with sitting with them. The only response she received the third time she asked was a scowl.

Scorpius was laughing at a rather grumpy Al as Rose sat next to her cousin, with Erin across from her.

"What's so funny?" Erin asked.

Scorpius quirked his eyebrow at Al, who made a mocking and surly face at him before turning to Erin.

"Someone says they can't play Quidditch because they happen to be busy tonight with undisclosed plans."

Scorpius face fell and he glared at Albus.

"Why would he be laughing at that?" Rose asked her cousin uncertainly, looking between the two boys.

"He's laughing at my less than pleased attitude," Al snapped.

Rose's eyes widened and she raised her hands in mock surrender before piling food on her plate.

"You know full well that's not what we were talking about," Scorpius said.

"What exactly are you planning to do tonight, Scorpius? If it's not Quidditch, it's not Head Boy duties, and it's not a girl, what else is there, exactly?" Albus asked, successfully turning the girls' attention to Scorpius' secretive behavior and away from himself.

"Give it a rest, Al. There are plenty of other things I could be doing. I have other friends you know."

"No you don't."

He looked at each of his three friends in turn after they spoke in unison, a sour look on his face.

"Yes, I do. Remember that I had a life before we actually became friends?" he asked Rose and Erin. His tone was rather surly and he went back to his meal without even waiting for a response. Rose was about to say something when Scorpius's point was coincidentally proven.

"Malfoy, you coming now or meeting up with us later?"

All four of them looked up to find Eddie Marsh rising from the Slytherin table a few feet away along with three others and looking expectantly at Scorpius. He nodded and swallowed his food before responding.

"I'll be there in a bit."

The other Slytherins headed out of the Great Hall, leaving Scorpius to be stared at by his three friends, all of them wearing dumbstruck looks.

"Scorpius-"

"That was Eric Nott and Lucas Prince with him."

"Are you hanging out with them?"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Oi!"

At his loud interjection, Rose and Erin fell silent. Rose looked panicked, Erin seemed to think he was acting like an idiot, and Al just looked concerned.

"Eddie is an alright bloke and I happen to be on the Quidditch team with him and Nott, same as Al. And Prince isn't all that bad."

Rose scoffed. "He's practically the ringleader of Slytherin house! It's Friday night and if there's ever trouble going on with that lot, he's usually at the center of it!"

"' _That lot_?'" Scorpius said with disdain. Al didn't look too pleased with Rose either. "You realize I'm part of ' _that lot,'_ don't you, Rose?"

She looked thoroughly chastened, but Scorpius would hear no apology as she tried to make one. He rose from the table and gave a nod to Al before heading out of the Great Hall and following after his fellow Slytherins.

* * *

"I'm glad you finally got your head on straight, Malfoy. That little Gryffindor bookworm was ruining you. It's nice to see you embracing who you really are."

Lucas Prince's words didn't sit quite well with Scorpius. Most of Slytherin house was all about being who you are, as long as you were who they expected you to be. But rather than arguing, he just took the drink his fellow seventh year offered and thanked him.

"Now," Prince said, throwing his arm around Scorpius' shoulder and taking a swig of his drink. "I know you never went through initiation or anything back in fifth year, but we'll get to that later. I see the end of term party as yours for the taking so start coming up with a plan. In the meantime, I've never really seen you with a bird on your arm. You're rather tightly wound - time to loosen all that up. Anyone here take your fancy?"

A flash of red hair and brown eyes came to Scorpius' mind, but he quickly disregarded it. She made it perfectly clear what she thought of him by lumping him in with his housemates and acting so appalled by them. He looked around the room and took in his surroundings. Music that would be described better as just a beat was pulsing through the room. There were people dancing in the center where the furniture had been cleared away, and everyone had a drink in their hand. There wasn't much food to go around so it wasn't taking much for people to start getting tipsy. It was only an hour into the party and one fifth year boy was already passed out on the couch. Thinking back to Lucas' question, Scorpius studied the group of girls dancing together in the middle of the room.

"Not in particular. Most girls in our house have never really given me the time of day. I've only really dated outside of Slytherin, and nothing ever came of any of that."

Prince grinned at him as he downed the rest of his drink and clapped him on the shoulder. "Then you need experience, my friend. I've got just the girl for you."

Rather than wandering towards the dance floor like Scorpius expected, Prince headed to one of the far corners of the room, where shadowed figures were gathered and a cloud of smoke was forming. Scorpius followed him, pushing his way through the crowd of Slytherins.

"Riley, get off your arse!" Prince hollered.

The crowd in the corner parted to reveal a girl with bushy black hair, pale features, and dark red lipstick. She was wearing tattered black jeans and a cut-off black vest. There was a cigarette between her long fingers that sported bright red nails. She was sat on a windowsill and surrounded by a group of boys who looked to be hanging off her every word and movement.

"What do you want, Lucas?" she said with annoyance.

"You know Scorpius Malfoy, right?"

Riley Clarke's piercing blue eyes shifted to Scorpius and she slowly stood from her perch on the windowsill, the green light from the black lake giving her an eerie silhouette as she walked towards them. She stopped only a foot away from Scorpius and gave him a once over.

"Don't believe I've had the pleasure. I've seen you around, though. Head Boy and son of a Malfoy is hard to miss. I'm a year below you, so I wouldn't be surprised if you don't know me, even though you should."

Her voice had a rough edge to it and she carried herself confidently as she took a puff of her cigarette.

"Actually, I have seen you around," Scorpius said. "Just figured you thought a little too highly of yourself to be worth the effort."

The boys that had been surrounding her ooed and awed at the Head Boy's jab. Riley's eyebrows shot up to the top of her forehead and her mouth turned down. She nodded her head.

"I'm impressed, Malfoy. Not one to be walked over, are you?"

He gave her a smirk and she reached out, grabbed his hand, and began to drag him towards an empty corner of the common room.

"Come on. It's time I get to know the real Scorpius Malfoy

* * *

 **A/N: *Cowers under the covers* Don't be mad! People make mistakes and everyone has stuff they have to work through. Things have to get worse sometimes before they get better. Feel free to air your distress in the review area. Happy Reading!**


	15. Got a world of trouble on my mind

Rose didn't see Scorpius all weekend. After he'd walked off at dinner, Erin and Al had talked about their plans for the weekend and had basically left Rose to her misery. When she did offer anything to the conversation, Albus would either not respond, or do so rather curtly. Erin would just give her an apologetic smile, knowing full well that Rose should not have reacted the way she did.

That weekend was the first Hogsmeade one for the whole school, and the last full weekend of September. The four of them had all gone in together for the first Hogsmeade weekend the last two years. They'd previously discussed doing it again, but Al hadn't seen much of Scorpius either, and Rose wouldn't blame him at all if he didn't want to go with them. Rose, Al and Erin decided to meet up at the Three Broomsticks around four for some butterbeer, and Al said he would try to bring Scorpius if he saw him before then, but made no promises. He wasn't too pleased with Rose's unintentional jab at their house either.

Al was planning on spending the first part of the day with Louis and Caleb, and Erin had plans to go and see Alice. Needing some space from everything, Rose decided to spend the day with her cousin Molly and Jill Boot.

"I swear, I don't know how he does it. It's amazing how many stupid girls there are at this school who are willing to just fling themselves at a boy based on his looks. It's degrading."

They were on their way into the village and Jill had been venting for most of the walk.

"I mean, I don't do that, you don't do that," she gestured to Molly. "What is it with all the other sixteen-year-old girls and letting their hormones run away with them?"

Molly chuckled. "Why are you so worked up about this?"

Jill shrugged and scrunched up her face against the wind. "It just bothers me, that's all."

"Sure it does," Rose said with a grin.

"They're giving a bad name to our entire kind! I have every right to be upset."

They made their way through the middle of town and stopped in at Honeydukes.

"And I'm sorry he has to put up with it all the time," Jill continued. "He's likely to never take a fancy to a girl in his life with the way they go after him. I doubt he'll ever trust a girl to be after anything more than his looks."

"Does this happen to him often, then? I've only witnessed it a few times during dinner, but the way you go on makes it sound like this is a rather common occurrence," Rose observed as she began to scoop some Pepper Imps into a bag.

"Probably about once a day," Molly confirmed.

Rose gave a sympathetic laugh at Molly's words. "Poor Louis. That can't be fun."

"Let's just hope it doesn't give him a big head," Jill noted. "That's what happened with Patrick Allen last year. His acne calmed down and he finally grew into his lanky frame and all the girls wanted him. But then he goes and takes advantage of the situation and breaks a handful of hearts in the process."

"You can't deny he's rather fit, though," said Rose, thinking about her fellow seventh year. He was in Ravenclaw like Jill and Molly, so Rose only really saw him when they had class together. They weren't on much more than a first name basis, but he got on well with both Al and Scorpius since they all played on their house Quidditch teams.

"That he is," Molly practically swooned. Rose and Jill laughed at her as they continued to peruse the various sweets in the shop. After making their purchases, they headed over to Gladrag's for Molly to look for a new winter cloak. Rose realized very quickly that she had no idea what she was getting herself into when she agreed to go shopping with Jill and Molly. The two of them could shop for hours. Molly found a cloak within the first thirty minutes, but then they spent the next two hours trying on various dresses.

"I haven't found one for the wedding yet and Jill was invited as well," Molly had said. It seemed like more of a sport than a chore to them. Rose already had her dress since she was in the wedding and wasn't big on shopping, so she sat and watched them try things on most of the time. It wasn't something she and Erin did together and she didn't have any sisters. Most of her other closest friends were boys so it was a rather bizarre and new experience.

By the time they'd each chosen a dress, it was four o'clock and time for Rose to go meet up with Erin and Al at the pub. Part of her considered ditching and forcing the two of them into a situation where they would have to talk to each other. She was pretty sure they'd yet to talk about the definition of their friendship since the incident in the library the day before. Thinking better of her meddlesome plan, Rose made her way towards the Three Broomsticks and welcomed the warmth when she entered. It was the end of September but there was enough of a chill in the air to make you cold if you were outside for too long. She looked around the room and didn't see Al or Erin, but they weren't always prompt. Rather than grabbing a booth, the wandered up to the bar and took a seat on one of the stools to wait.

"Can I get a butterbeer, please?"

The barmaid nodded and went to get her drink, leaving Rose to take a look around the bar. It wasn't much different from when Rosmerta was running things. Some of the chairs and tables looked like they'd been refinished, and the giant fireplace was sparkling when it used to be covered in scorch marks and soot from decades past. She took a long drink of her butterbeer after it was placed in front of her, then took a deep breath.

"Everything alright there, Miss Weasley?"

Rose started and looked to her right to see her Muggle Studies professor sitting next to her. "Professor Mac. Yes, sorry. I didn't see you there."

He gave her a warm smile. "No worries. I got here just after you did."

Rose smiled and gave him a nod, feeling slightly awkward. She'd never talked to the young professor outside of class.

"You here by yourself?" he asked.

"Just waiting on Al and Erin. He's off with another cousin and she's with her sister."

He gave a nod of understanding and turned to the barmaid that had approached him. Rose focused on her own beverage, hoping he would just ignore her. It wasn't that she didn't like her new professor, but small talk always made her rather uncomfortable.

"Enjoying your weekend?" he asked after ordering his own drink.

She quickly swallowed, trying not to choke and bracing herself for what was sure to be a rather stilted conversation. "It's not so bad."

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "Doesn't sound too convincing. Anything on your mind?"

She looked at him skeptically. "It's not unethical or anything for me to open up about my issues to my professor over a drink?"

He chuckled. "It might be a gray area. But I'm willing to bet your parents and uncle had quite a few out of class conversations and meetings with their professors in their days."

Rose smiled at his comment, thinking fondly on the crazy stories she'd heard throughout her childhood and immediately feeling more comfortable around Malcolm Bray.

"Fair point. But do you really want to hear about the trials of a teenage girl?"

He shrugged. "It wasn't that long ago I was a teenager. I might actually be able to provide some valuable insight."

"If that's the case," Rose said. "Then maybe you could offer some advice?"

Malcolm nodded and took a sip of his butterbeer, turning slightly in his chair to face Rose. "I'm all ears."

Rose smiled and quickly thought through everything that had happened over the past few weeks, trying to decide exactly what was bothering her the most. She could talk about the whole Al and Erin issue, but she didn't have enough information to get into that. Plus, that really had nothing to do with her and would mostly be meddling. Everything that had happened that term with Scorpius - from the incidents with Shepard to his odd behavior to what she'd said the night before - that was the issue she couldn't shake.

"How do you convince someone that they're more than they think they are? That they don't have to let others define them?"

Her professor looked contemplative for a few moments, chewing over her words.

"I say it depends on the person," he finally said. "If they're particularly stubborn or proud, they're not going to do much listening. They're more likely to learn if they figure things out for themselves. And if you're having trouble getting your friend to listen, I'd say the chances are that that's the case."

Thinking about it, Rose saw the accuracy in his words. It frustrated her to realize that this might be a problem she couldn't fix.

"Okay, but if someone's letting lies other people are saying about them get to them, how do you get them to see the truth?"

"Ah," Malcolm said, realization lighting up his features. "Are we talking about your friend Mr. Malfoy?"

Rose just looked at him in surprise. He gave a shrug and worked hard to contain his mirth at her dumbfounded expression.

"I notice what happens between my students - in and out of class. Your comment on Thursday about gossip was a little too transparent, especially by the way you were staring at him."

Rose blushed as her professor gave her a kind smile.

"Has Shepard been giving him a hard time?"

"How'd you know?"

"Like I said, I notice things."

Rose was impressed. It seemed her professor was about more than just the classroom. His observation about Scorpius' issues with Shepard and his willingness to talk about her issues was enough to show her how much he cared for them as people and not just papers to grade.

"He's had some issues with him in the past, but it seems to have gotten worse. And it's been more visible this year, with Scorpius in a position of authority. And...well…" She trailed off, ashamed to admit what she'd said the night before.

"I might have made a negative comment about Slytherins in front of him the other day. He didn't take it too kindly."

The frown Professor Bray gave her could easily rival the one that Professor Snape's portrait usually wore when she was in the Headmistress' office.

"It was an accident," she insisted. "He was running off to hang out with Lucas Prince and I kind of lost it. He used to stay clear of him and his friends."

There was a beat of silence as they both sipped their drinks and the young professor mulled over this new information.

"Well," her professor began. "Even though I've just met you all, I think your friend has a good head on his shoulders and is more than capable of handling himself around the likes of Lucas Prince, whom I actually don't know. He's not in our Muggle Studies class so I can't say much on that subject. But I'd exercise some trust in your friend. If he's proud, it would go a long way to know you have faith in him to make the right choices. And I'd maybe apologize too."

Rose nodded, already starting to feel better about the situation. Scorpius could forgive her, and maybe even sooner than she thought possible. She could fix this.

"You don't have to fix everything, Miss Weasley. I see that in you. The desire to make sure things turn out right. Your cousin Victoire is similar to you in that way."

Rose laughed at his timely insight and spot on comparison. "I forgot you were friends with Teddy. Are you going to be at the wedding, then?"

"I'm in the ruddy thing," he said sourly. Rose cocked her head in question. "You should see the bowties he's having us wear," he said in explanation. Rose gave him a sympathetic chuckle.

"I'm sorry. I wish I could complain about the dress I have to wear, but Victoire has rather wonderful taste."

"You in it as well?" Malcolm asked.

"Yep. She was always rather close with my mum so she was over a lot when I was growing up. Despite the age difference, we're rather close."

Malcolm looked like he was about to respond when they were both distracted by the sound of laughter. It was coming from the stairway behind the bar that led up to Alice's apartment and was soon followed by the sound of footsteps as Erin and Alice appeared.

"Hey, Rose," Erin said as she made her way around the bar to sit next to her. "Sorry I kept you waiting. We just got to talking." She shared a smile with her older sister.

"Don't worry about it," Rose assured her. "I had some company."

She gestured to their professor and Erin's eyes widened. She seemed to be having the same reaction Rose had when she'd discovered the professor sitting next to her.

"Oh. Hi, Professor Mac. I didn't see you there."

"No worries, Miss Longbottom," he said, raising his class in a salute to her. "Although, I was unaware that I've been a patron of my student's sister this past month."

He shot a sideways glance at Alice, who gave a shy smile. Erin looked between to two of them for a second before Rose elbowed her in the ribs and jerked her heads towards the two young adults. Thankfully, Erin got the hint.

"Oh. Right, sorry. Alice, this is Malcolm Bray, our new Muggle Studies professor. Professor Mac, this is my older sister, Alice."

He leaned over the bar and shook Alice's hand, giving her a charming smile. "Nice to meet you, Alice. Do you own the place now? I remember Rosmerta running things when I was a student."

"I just run it," Alice told him. "Rosmerta still owns. I took over on the operational side at the end of August."

They continued talking, Alice coming out of her shell as they discussed a subject she was proud of and passionate about, and Malcolm seeming genuinely interested in everything she was saying. Watching them, Rose leaned in to whisper to Erin.

"Want to find a table and leave them to it?"

Erin gave her a mischievous grin and nodded.

"Hey, Alice?" she interrupted. Her sister was now leaning on the bar and talking animatedly with their professor. She stopped mid-sentence and looked at her sister expectantly.

"Thanks for lunch. We're going to find a table. See you for dinner on Wednesday?"

Alice nodded. "Sure thing. And I'll send a pitcher over to your table. On me."

The girls thanked her and she turned back to her conversation as the they made to go find a table.

"Well, that was unexpected," Erin said. "Were you two talking long?"

"I was here right at four, so not long."

Erin cringed. "Sorry I was late."

Rose waved her apology aside as they sat in a booth by the fire. "Please. Al's not even here yet. And it was actually nice talking to Professor Bray. Rather insightful."

Thinking back on their conversation, she hoped she'd be able to see Scorpius today and apologize to him. She'd realized through her conversation with her professor how high strung she was being about all of it. He could make his own choices and she could try to trust him to make the right ones.

"You alright?" Erin asked. Rose shook herself out of her daze.

"I'm fine. Just thinking about everything. Did you have a nice time with your sister?'

Erin gave a contented smile. "I did. I told her about going through all of Great-Gran's old stuff and we really talked about all of it for the first time. It was tough, but necessary, I think."

She looked healthier than Rose had seen her in a long while. The whole time her grandmother had been sick, she'd have days where she seemed haggard with exhaustion, and others when she'd be in denial that anything was wrong. This new side of Erin was surprisingly mature.

"Erin Longbottom, you're growing up before my very eyes."

Erin shot her an annoyed look and Rose laughed.

"Good to know you two are having fun without me," Al said as he slid in beside Erin. Rose immediately sobered up at the disgruntled look on his face.

"No luck?" Erin asked him as their butterbeer arrived, noticing the absence of his usual blond companion. He took a long swig of his drink before answering.

"Nope. I saw him in the common room before I left earlier and he wouldn't talk about it, and then just now over by the Shrieking Shack. He's hanging out with Lucas Prince and Riley Clarke, along with a few others."

It took everything in Rose to bite her tongue. Riley Clarke didn't have the best reputation. Rose had caught her breaking rules half a dozen times herself. Not to mention the fact that she was rather beautiful, despite her tough exterior. But if Scorpius was spending time with her and Lucas Prince, maybe she wasn't entirely correct in her assumptions. Composing herself, Rose was able to get out the words she wanted to be true, but still wasn't sure she believed.

"Good for him."

Erin and Al stared at her with disbelieving looks.

"What happened to ' _that lot'_ causing trouble?" Al said with a frown, unwilling to trust that she meant the words.

"I was wrong and I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking but that's no excuse. I know it might take more time for Scorpius to forgive me, but do you?"

She tried to pour as much sincerity as she could into her words. Al seemed to mull it over for a few minutes, swirling around the butterbeer in the bottom of his glass.

"I suppose so. I know you well enough to know how much you've been beating yourself up the past twenty-four hours. That's probably punishment enough."

Rose sighed in relief as her cousin gave her a smirk, finishing off the last of his butterbeer before leaning back and putting his arm on the top of the booth behind Erin. She didn't seem to pay this any mind as she drank her own butterbeer, but now that Rose and Al were on good terms again and Scorpius temporarily out of her mind, Rose remembered the other current situation that had been eating away at her.

"So you two are determined, then. To act like everything's normal?"

She gestured to Al's arm. Erin glared at Rose as if willing her to shut up while Al merely shrugged his shoulders and kept his arm in place. "So what if we fancy a snog every once in a while? We're fully grown wizards."

Erin looked at him with a frown. "I'm a witch, you idiot."

Al turned to her with a cocky grin. "Damn right."

Rose growled in frustration and gripped her hair as her cousin started snogging her best friend, right in front of her and all the other patrons of the Three Broomsticks. Erin didn't seem to be complaining, though, as she gave just as good as she got.

"Really? You planning on just pretending I'm not here?"

Thankfully, Erin seemed to register what Rose had said and gently pushed Al away. "We can continue this later," she said in an undertone before straightening herself out and turning to face Rose, who looked extremely annoyed.

"What?" Erin asked innocently while Al wore a smug look. Rose rubbed her hands over her face and stretched her neck in an attempt to relieve the stress of all the complicated situations in her life. She looked back at Al and Erin after calming down.

"You realize you two might regret this one day?"

"Not one anytime soon," Al said as he poured his second glass of butterbeer.

The rest of their time was spent without incident. When it was time to head back to the school for dinner, Hugo and Bobby were also in the pub so they all headed back together. Rose was able to pull Erin ahead of the three boys as they discussed James' most recent match against the Cannons.

"So, let me get this straight. You and Al aren't dating, but he's at perfectly liberty to just snog you whenever he wants? Are you really alright with this?" Rose asked in an undertone so as not to be overheard.

"Wouldn't you be?" Erin asked. Rose looked at her in disgust.

"Ew, no. He's my cousin."

Erin rolled her eyes and laughed. "I didn't mean you and Al. I mean you and any boy you find fit who liked snogging you."

Rose looked at her incredulously. "And you feel good about that? Just letting him use you physically?"

"I like to think it goes both ways. We're using each other," Erin countered.

"But hasn't he initiated it each time?" Rose asked.

"I kissed him first!" This came out slightly louder than Erin had anticipated and there was a beat of silence from behind them before the boys resumed their conversation.

"And yes," Erin continued at a lower volume. "He's the only one who's made a move since. But I guarantee that's going to change."

Rose heaved a heavy sigh. "You know what? I give up. Make your own choices, but don't say I didn't warn you when this all goes to shit cause one of you can't handle the lack of commitment."

As they made their way up the stairs and into the entrance hall, Rose spotted a group of Slytherins loitering in front of the open oak front doors. She stopped suddenly when she noticed one of them was tall with white blond hair and laughing at something a petite girl with black curly locks had just said. Erin almost ran into her and began to question what was wrong before she saw them as well. The boys eventually caught up to them and it turned into a rather obvious group of people staring at the handful of Slytherins.

"This is ridiculous," Al finally said, pushing through Rose and Erin and making his way up the steps to join his housemates, who welcomed him. She saw Hugo and Bobby starting to climb up the steps out of the corner of her eye, but she could only focus on Scorpius as he greeted Al before glancing down the steps, his eyes landing on Rose and the smile he wore dimming. She tried to offer him a smile as Erin gripped her arm and began to move forward as well.

Scorpius only watched her for maybe two seconds before turning away and following as everyone began to make their way into the castle. Her heart sank as her opportunity to talk to him, let alone apologize, slipped through her fingers. As she walked into the castle, she desperately hoped that she'd have another chance soon.

She didn't see him again until class on Monday morning, and they didn't speak for two weeks.

* * *

 **A/N: Hello lovely readers! This story has a few dozen followers now, which is awesome. So I'd love to hear from each of you! I know we don't get any Scorpius in this one, but we get plenty of him next time so just stick with it! Rose has to figure some stuff out. Also, how stupid are Al and Erin? I love them, but geez. Any other thoughts and feelings, I'd love to hear them! Follow, review, favorite. All the things!**

 **Happy Reading :)**


	16. It's a game of give and take

Scorpius could understand why Lucas Prince had recommended he get to know Riley Clarke. While she gave off a badass vibe that seemed to spell trouble with a capital T, she was actually relatively down to earth.

They'd spent the rest of the party doing not much other than talking. She'd shared her cigarette with him and he'd talked more freely than he had in a while. Riley genuinely did try to get to know the real Scorpius Malfoy. She asked him questions about his childhood and his dreams and aspirations; about his family and the pressures he faced. She'd comfortingly reached out and stroked his arm when he started talking about how difficult it was for him to get along with his grandparents on either side. He'd asked her questions about herself as well. She was smart and sexy, and he couldn't help but think of her as a darker version of Rose. He hadn't come to a decision yet if that was a positive or negative.

They'd spent the day in Hogsmeade hanging out with Lucas - who he later found out was Riley's cousin - and Scorpius enjoyed the freedom that came from being around people he had no baggage with. They could talk about whatever they wanted without the necessity of addressing anything heavy or overly emotional. There was something liberating about being with people you didn't have much history with.

He was worried at first that he would be expected to pursue some sort of romantic relationship with Riley, but other than the party, they hadn't spent any one on one time together. Lucas Prince hadn't pressured him into making any type of move yet, which Scorpius was thankful for. He supposed they had something you could classify as chemistry, but he had a hard time seeing past the things that she did that reminded him of Rose, so she mostly caused his mind to wander to his currently estranged best friend. Just like Prince had said, though, Scorpius did find himself loosening up around Riley. She had a devil-may-care attitude that was infectious, and she never bothered him about making sure he got all his work done. Scorpius was a good student so he made sure he accomplished everything he needed to over the weekend like always, but it was hard to not draw comparisons between his usual company and his more recent companions.

He felt slightly guilty about ignoring Rose when he'd seen her at the entrance to the school, and even worse about skipping out on dinner with everyone that night to celebrate Hugo's birthday. But he wasn't keen on forgiving Rose anytime soon, even though he knew there were worse things a person could do. It could qualify as a slip of the tongue, but part of her had to believe what she'd said on some subconscious level. Maybe she hadn't meant to include him in her statement, but he saw himself as one of them, whether she did or not. And he wanted her to accept the part of him that was loyal to his house.

He spent most of Sunday in the Slytherin common room and even planned on staying the night in his old dorm like he had the previous two. He was up there preparing for bed when Al walked in and gave a knowing look when he noticed Scorpius' presence in their dorm once again.

"I guess it didn't go so well, then?" Al asked as he tossed his book bag on top of his trunk and kicked off his shoes.

"Nope," Scorpius said, remembering back to the prefect meeting that had taken place just after dinner. "She did try talking to me, I suppose. But I didn't give her much of a chance."

"Still avoiding her?"

"Is there a reason I shouldn't?" Scorpius asked as he stripped down to his boxers before climbing into his old four posters. Al gave a noncommittal shrug as he did the same.

"She gave me a rather heartfelt apology yesterday. I'm willing to bet she'd give you an even better one."

Scorpius huffed as he lay on his back, studying the canopy above his four-poster. "I know. She's probably beating herself up over this. But I figure she's still slightly mad at me for ignoring her all weekend and hanging out with Prince and Riley."

He heard Al chuckle from the bed next to him. "It's remarkable how well you know her. And I don't want to make her apology for her, but if it helps, I think you ought to hear her out."

Scorpius merely hummed in affirmation. Al probably had a point, but part of him wanted to make her sweat it out for a while. He knew that was probably cruel, but the idea of talking to her made him feel slightly sick at the moment. He was enjoying the carefree environment he had been in the past few days. Avoidance was easier.

"If it makes you feel any better," Al's groggy voice drifted over from across the dorm, "I think she's more upset with me than you right now."

"How come?"

He heard Al moving around in an agitated manner as if trying to get comfortable. He finally stopped and let out a huff.

"Well, you know how things with me and Erin have been…"

"Different?" Scorpius finished for him. He could practically hear Al rolling his eyes.

"For lack of a better term, sure. Anyway. We kind of...made out in front of Rose at the Three Broomsticks yesterday."

Scorpius sat up on his elbows and looked over at his best friend, who had his face scrunched up in preparation for the scolding he was about to receive.

"Al. What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry!" Al exclaimed, doing his best to sound guilty. "But can you blame me? It's less complicated this way."

"How?" Scorpius asked incredulously. "How is this less complicated? You two haven't had any type of emotional conversation about anything since the night you made up, and things have changed since then. The definition of your relationship has changed."

"How exactly has it changed?" Al asked, now sitting up as well.

"Will you stop being an idiot? You crossed a line without defining things. That is the definition of complicated."

"You sound like a girl."

"And you're acting like a prat."

Al gave a laugh. "Maybe, but like I said the other day - I'm a prat who's snogged someone in the last twenty-four hours."

Scorpius shot him an annoyed look before flopping back down on the bed and turning on his side, eventually drifting off into a fitful sleep.

* * *

By mid October, Rose was doing her best to not resort to desperate measures. Things had gone from uncomfortable to increasingly awkward over the past few weeks, with dynamics becoming even more bizarre due to the hormonally charged game Al and Erin insisted on playing with each other. Scorpius tended to leave whenever Rose would join him and Al and Erin, so she typically found herself without someone to commiserate with over their friends' stupidity. They weren't affectionate unless they were snogging, which Rose was extremely thankful for. She wouldn't have been able to handle them acting all lovey dovey while denying their feelings. Overall, not much about their friendship had changed. But no matter how hard they denied everything that was going on between them, there were times when Rose felt like the ultimate third wheel. Unless they were arguing. Then it felt just like old times.

One other thing that had changed was a more consistent presence of Lily. Not only was she getting a kick out of her older brother's antics and desired to be there when the shit inevitably hit the fan, but Rose could tell Lily had noticed her rather low mood and the noted absence of Scorpius. Rose appreciated the gesture of what she assumed was compassion on Lily's side, but the younger girl didn't always know how to keep herself out of other people's business very well. Or how to practice tact.

"I think they're being ridiculous. It's obvious he fancies her. He can't take his bloody eyes off her unless he's snogging her. And she's not without blame either. She's the one who started this whole thing."

Lily had been ranting all the way from the joint common room to the Great Hall as they made their way to dinner. Rose was growing weary of Lily's incessant chatter, but she'd so far managed to hold her tongue. They made their way towards the Gryffindor table as Lily continued.

"I just think they'll either eventually get sick of this and it'll die down, or it's all going to blow up in their faces. And I think we both know them well enough to realize it probably won't be the first of those two options,"

Rose continued not to comment as she took a seat between her brother and Louis. Lily slid in across from Rose and between Caleb Wood and Bobby Finnigan and continued with her rant.

"I still hold to my opinion that they're being idiots. And I think someone needs to talk some sense into them."

"Got it, Lil. Thanks," Rose snapped at her, unable to keep quiet as her frustrations mounted when she spotting Scorpius enjoying his meal with Riley Clarke and his cousin Corbin across the hall. She began to munch on a piece of bread as the others looked at Rose in surprise, Lily with a small amount of hurt in her eyes.

"What?" Lily asked, her voice small and unsure of what exactly she was asking her cousin. Rose rolled her eyes and looked up at the younger Gryffindor.

"I don't need you to tell me that my best friends are acting like idiots or that this is all leading down a bad road or that the sky is falling. I get that. I spend the majority of my time with the two of them and even more so now that my other best friend continues to ignore my existence. And in case you've forgotten, Al's been my best friend since birth and Erin for just as long, so it's safe to say I just might know them better than anyone. I know how to handle them so back the hell off. I get enough of their drama on a daily basis without you having to badger me about it during the moments when I can have a little peace."

Rose went back to her food, averting her eyes from the judgmental stares she was receiving while an uncomfortable silence filled their section of the table. She heard Louis uncomfortably clear his throat and she could tell that Hugo was silently mouthing words to someone across from him - most likely Lily. There was a sudden sniff and movement from the other side of the table as she made to get up and leave. Rose looked up, thinking about apologizing but unsure how to. Caleb called Lily's name and made a move to stop her but she only gave him a sad smile and shook her head as she walked past him and out of the Great Hall. The awkward silence continued as Bobby, Hugo, Louis, and Caleb all gave Rose disbelieving looks.

"That wasn't like you at all. What's going on?" Hugo asked, his tone defensive. Rose let out a heavy sigh and gave them all an apologetic grimace.

"Just been a rough few weeks. I'm sorry you had to see that."

Being a group of rather easy going boys and used to the occasional blow ups from their female relatives, they all nodded in varying degrees of acceptance. Louis seemed to just let it roll off his back, Bobby looked understanding, and Hugo - who knew the most about what was going on with Rose - gave her a sympathetic smile. Caleb was the only one who seemed to begrudgingly accept her apology. He was as stubborn as his father, though generally had a gentler spirit. The look on his face was a little unexpected, but Rose didn't have to wait long to figure out what was bothering him.

"I don't think it's us you should be apologizing to."

Rose nodded, realizing Caleb was right. She quickly gathered her things and pecked her brother on the cheek - much to his displeasure - before getting up to go after her cousin.

It didn't take that long to find her. Most students were currently at dinner so traffic in the entrance hall was nonexistent. Lily hadn't made it much further past the first flight of stairs in the direction of the Gryffindor common room and was sitting on a window ledge not far down the hall when Rose reached the second floor. She didn't appear to be crying, but Lily wasn't much of a crier. She was tough and resilient. Very much like her mother.

Rose approached slowly and Lily looked up at the sound of her footsteps. The open and vulnerable look she'd worn moments before disappeared and turned hard. Crossing her arms, she rested back against the window and adopted a look of indifference as Rose came to a stop in front of her.

"I'm sorry, Lily. I know what I said upset you and I shouldn't have said it. No matter what kind of mood I was in."

Lily remained silent, though her tough exterior began to crack. She started kicking her heal against the wall in an agitated manner and chewing on her bottom lip. Apparently, whatever Rose had said had gotten under her skin to the point where a simple apology might not be enough. And Lily was usually the type to easily let things go.

"I've always been jealous of you, you know?" Lily said, causing Rose's eyes to widen. Out of all the things she expected her to say, that wasn't even close to being one of them.

"What? Why?" she asked. Lily rolled her eyes and gave a grim smile.

"Okay, so maybe not the social skills or the hair," Lily jabbed. Rose gave a scoff that made Lily give a genuine, if small, smile. "But you've always been close with Al. With both of my brothers, actually. It's hard sometimes to be on the outside of their lives when you so clearly have an inside line."

Guilt started to creep up in Rose but she pushed it down. This was an issue that had been present for as long as Rose could remember, and she had long ago decided to stop feeling guilty about the good relationships she had with both Al and James. She hated that her friendships with them sometimes made Lily feel insecure, but Rose had the same feelings toward Lily and Hugo's friendship.

"I guess I was letting my insecurities get to me so I pushed a little too hard to be involved. I see that now."

Rose couldn't help but feel sympathetic. Lily just wanted both of her brothers to be happy and she'd watched Rose be involved with both of their current relationships - if that's what you could even call Al and Erin's situation.

"You know I sometimes feel the same about you and Hugo, right?"

Lily looked shocked at Rose's words. For all the times they'd aired their grievances about Rose's relationships with James and Al, she had never brought up her own insecurities.

"You can't be serious," said Lily. "You're two of the closest siblings I know."

"Maybe," said Rose. "But I know he'd rather go to you over me almost every time."

Lily just stared at her skeptically, not sure if she should agree or not. Rose sighed and moved to sit next to Lily on the window sill.

"Look. I'm his big sister. I realize that it's not exactly cool to go to your big sister for advice, so I've grown to accept and understand that I'm not going to hold the place in his life that you do. You're his friend far more than you are his cousin, Lil. His best friend. And I love that you're so close. But I can't help but sometimes be bothered by the fact that you probably know more about his life than I do."

It was almost comical to watch Lily's face as the truth of Rose's words began to sink in. "I never realized," she said in a bit of a dazed voice.

"Yes, well. While you've been a bit too preoccupied with my relationship with _your_ brothers, you've failed to notice how you affect the relationship I have with _mine_."

Though the words were honest, Rose said them with a caring voice. Realization seemed to grow on Lily's face.

"Rose, I'm so sorry. I've been a complete monster about this for years."

Rose was quick to shake her head. "Don't be silly. Your brothers are fantastic people so I don't blame you at all for wanting to be close to them."

Lily chuckled and moved closer to Rose, linking their arms together. "I do understand, by the way," said Lily. Rose looked at her in confusion, so she elaborated.

"I get why you're closer with them than I am. You're closer in age for one thing, and just like you're Hugo's big sister, I'm their little sister. They don't want to talk to me about their problems and girls and things like that. It'll probably still bother me from time to time, but they're lucky to have you as a friend. You're a brilliant one, and even though we might not be as close with each other as you are with Al and James or I am with Hugo, I've always thought of you as the closest thing I have to a sister. More than any of our other female cousins. Even Victoire, who will be the closest thing I have to a technical sister once she marries Teddy."

Rose almost felt like she could cry. Lily was tough and rarely showed this much maturity and composer, let alone this amount of grace and vulnerability. Rose pulled her arm out from where it was linked with Lily's and threw it around her cousin's shoulder. Lily gave a slight yelp, surprised by the amount of force that went behind the embrace.

"Thanks, Lil," Rose gushed. "I've always felt the same about you."

Lily laughed at Rose's lighthearted dramatics and pushed her off.

"And Hugo is lucky to have you as well," said Rose.

"Whatever. He's better than my brothers, anyway."

They shared a laugh and Rose got to her feet.

"Want to head back in?" she asked. "Neither of us really got to eat much."

Lily nodded and rose to follow her.

"So," she began as they started slowly walking in the direction of the Great Hall. She wore a slight smirk that only spelled bad news for Rose. "How about, in return for almost making me cry-"

"So sorry about that, by the way-"

"You tell me everything I need to know about why Scorpius Malfoy is currently avoiding you like the plague?"

Rose let out a groan at her question. Their conversation had managed to drive the thought of Scorpius Malfoy clear from her head. Remembering his coldness towards her brought her buoyant spirits back down a few notches.

"Fine, I suppose I owe you that much. But how much time do you have?"

Lily smiled and linked arms with her cousin as they set a slow pace towards their destination. "For you? All the time in the world."

* * *

She entered the room with trepidation, resenting the fact that something she'd wanted for so long was tainted by her current relationship with her co-head. At this point, she had a hard time not wishing someone other than Scorpius had been made Head Boy. A complete one-eighty from her original opinion on the matter.

A few prefects had already arrived and offered her warm greetings as she made her way towards the desk at the front of the room. The prefect meeting room was set up much like any other classroom, but it was smaller, and each prefect had a locker to keep their things in during rounds. That had been an edition Scorpius had been brilliant enough to ask for during their first week as Heads.

Rose started rifling through her bag for the notes she'd prepared for the meeting as more prefects began to arrive. Looking at the clock on the back wall, she noticed it was five till seven. Scorpius was usually here by now.

As soon as she thought it, he walked through the door while in the middle of a friendly conversation with Eden Avery. It's incredible how much seeing a bloke talking to another girl when you are in denial about having feelings for him can make you feel like an absolute idiot for pretending you don't care. Rose felt a rush of feelings that were so jumbled up it was hard to separate them into definable emotions. But jealousy and regret were the loudest ones and, therefore, very hard to miss.

She wanted to be friends with him again. Not because she saw him talking to another girl, but because she missed him and wanted nothing more than to apologize. He deserved an apology. He had successfully avoided her to the point where she'd considered writing him a letter just so she could at least get her apology out there. But every time she'd sat down to do it, she couldn't get the words out. It wasn't that she didn't want to apologize; it was that she didn't think he deserved a bunch of throw away excuses and sentiments. It needed to be real and sincere and she hadn't been able to find a way to expresses that in words.

He'd walked up to the desk and was now looking through his list of things to cover during the meeting. He hadn't said a word to Rose or even looked at her. His friendly demeanor from when he was talking to Avery had vanished as he now stood beside her.

"Scorpius, as soon as this meeting is over, I'd like a word, please. In private?"

The words were out before she realized she'd even decided to say something. His eyes slowly moved up to meet hers as she willed him to see the honesty and humility and regret she was carrying. He eventually gave a barely perceivable nod before turning to the prefects and calling them to attention.

"Alright you lot. It's been a good two weeks it seems. Only about ten detention recommendations that were denied. That's a marked improvement from the thirty-four we had at the beginning of term. We definitely appreciate your efforts and I think you all now understand the concept of where the line is."

Rose watched him as he went through and asked questions about the different detentions that had been recommended. The ones that were obvious and had been approved by the Heads of Houses they didn't bring up, but they liked to get clarity on the ones that had been excused and maybe even use them as teaching tools.

Since Rose and Scorpius had had their little falling out, he'd been focused on the detention and point docking reports, and she'd been handling all of the sign in sheets as well as any other issues that might pop up. The one thing they hadn't been able to split duties on had been their own rounds. Typically, like they had all last year, they would round together, this time every Monday night. But the past few weeks she'd shown up in the entrance hall just in time for him to see her, and then head off to cover the east wing of the castle, leaving her to cover the west. It was infuriating to her since it was not only against the rules to do rounds on your own, but it was also robbing her of many chances she could have had to talk to him in private. It was one of the reasons she was determined to talk to him today.

It was hard to keep focused as she encouraged them all to be on time for rounds and to make sure they never took anyone's willingness to be helpful for granted. It was impossible for her not to notice that a few prefects were having their coworkers cover for them more often than not.

"And remember," she emphasized at the end of the meeting, "only other prefects are allowed to sub for you and you have to sign yourself in for rounds. Your partner isn't allowed to do it for you."

She tried not to stare too obviously at Devon Shepard as she spoke, but it was obvious that more than once, his partner had signed the sheet for both of them.

The room began to fill with the sound of scraping chairs and friendly chatter as soon as she'd dismissed them. It was times like these that she missed being just a prefect. The camaraderie between the prefects was something she hadn't anticipated before her fifth year came along and she'd loved it. It was like having a group of coworkers that you actually really liked. Even Devon Shepard managed to not be as much of an ass when it came to meetings and rounds. This year had shown a marked change in that area. He'd always been a bit of a git, but he'd been successful in outdoing himself this year.

As Heads, Rose and Scorpius had to wait until everyone else left the meeting room before they could be on their way. This had caused some awkward silence at the end of the last meeting, but Rose could sense something like resignation and maybe even a friendly attitude in him as they stood there. He wasn't as rigid and he didn't wear a permanent frown. It gave her hope.

Once the last few stragglers were gone and Rose and Scorpius had packed up all their things, she braced herself to deliver the apology she'd been dying to give.

"You hungry?"

Thrown by the question, she looked up at him in confusion.

"No. Dinner was just an hour ago. Are you?"

"Yes."

And then he turned and strolled out of the room. She gave an exclamation of surprise and stood there for a moment in shock before storming after him.

"Oi, Malfoy!" she hollered down the deserted corridor. He turned to face her, hands in his pockets and a question on his face.

"Are you determined to run away from me, then?" she asked, simultaneously annoyed with his attitude and distraught by the possibility of missing another opportunity to talk to him.

"No. I'm just hungry. Can we talk in the kitchens?"

He seemed perfectly at ease with the situation and it irked her. He had the upper hand and he knew it. She growled in frustration before moving to walk with him towards the kitchens, only to have him turn and begin making his way there without waiting for her to catch up. She let out a huff and did her best to gain on him, but even in his lazy stride, his legs were too long for her to be able to make much ground. She arrived at the kitchens just in time to catch the portrait before it swung shut behind him.

"The usual would be great, thank you, Lotty."

She heard Scorpius make the request as the door closed behind her. The house elves were bustling about and Rose entered the kitchen with uncertainty, watching them as they ran around looking slightly chaotic. Hearing a chuckle, Rose looked up at Scorpius with a scowl.

"Are you _trying_ to torture me?"

He laughed harder at that. "I doubt I'll ever think it's not funny that house elves freak you out."

"You don't have to be an arse about all this when I'm trying to be all humble and contrite. It makes it harder for me to apologize."

He slowly stopped chuckling and an indifferent look graced his features as he went to sit at one of the tables in the large kitchen. Sighing, Rose moved to sit across from him just as a hot cinnamon roll and a mug of black coffee were placed in front of Scorpius.

"Thanks, Lotty."

The house elf gave him a small smile before returning to her work as Scorpius took a sip of his coffee.

"I don't think I'll ever understand how you can stomach that stuff," said Rose, eyeing his coffee with displeasure.

"You know," Scorpius said as he set down his mug, "insulting someone really isn't the best way to apologize."

He didn't say it in a cocky or accusing way, and Rose realized for the first time how selfish she'd been for thinking that she'd been the only one affected by their strained friendship the past few weeks.

"I hope you know that even though we can jab and take the mick and joke with each other, I'd never purposely aim to insult who you are as a person."

He wasn't looking at her as she spoke, but picked up his fork and cut off a bite of his cinnamon roll, taking his time chewing and swallowing before responding.

"I suppose I do know that," he mumbled, chancing a glance at her. "Can't pretend it didn't sting, though."

Silence reigned for a few moments, and Rose didn't think it was necessary for either of them to rehash what she'd said to him a few weeks ago.

"I really am sorry," she said eventually. He looked up at her, finally ready to hear her apology. "I spoke entirely out of turn. You're at perfect liberty to make your own choices, and you weren't doing anything wrong. As your friend, I should have been supportive. I hope you can forgive me."

He gave a barely perceptible nod and his lips threatened to twitch into a smile.

"I think I can do that."

Rose couldn't help the grin that broke out all over her face. A smile formed on Scorpius' as well and he let out a chuckle at the pure joy she wore. He slid his plate so it sat in the middle of the table as a fork appeared at her side.

"Is this your version of a peace offering?" she asked as she picked up the fork. He gave a noncommittal shrug and continued to eat. Rose's mind was whirring. There were so many things they could catch up on. They had all of the dynamics of their friends and family members, so many Head things they could discuss, and she had no idea what he'd been up to over the past few weeks. Although that sounded like dangerous territory. She knew who he'd most likely been hanging out with and she wasn't sure she quite trusted herself to not voice her displeasure, even though she did know he could make his own choices.

"What do you think this meeting with McGonagall is about?" Scorpius asked, leading them safely into the realm of Head duties.

"I'm not sure," she said, trying to think though what the Headmistress could want to talk about. She'd sent them each a note at breakfast that morning with nothing more than a request to speak to them and a time and a place. "We haven't had an official meeting with her since term started. Maybe she's just checking in?"

"Hopefully it's not about our rounds," Scorpius said as he finished off his coffee. Rose's eyes widened in worry.

"Damn. And we don't even have rounds before we have to meet with her tomorrow so it's not like we can make up for it. How could we have been so stupid? She's going to take our badges and strip us of our duties and then fucking Shepard will be made Head Boy and I'll have to listen to Angie talk about how 'it should have been her in the first place' and my parents-"

"Rose!"

She stopped short at his interjection, blushing slightly from embarrassment.

"There's no need to get carried away," Scorpius assured her. "It's mostly my fault. I'm the one who wandered off without you each time so I can take the fall if one needs to be taken."

"Scorpius, this whole thing started because of something I did," Rose insisted. "I can't let you do that."

"Sure you can," he reasoned. "Just let me do the talking and it'll be fine."

He seemed very sure of himself and it struck Rose. It wasn't like he hadn't always been sure of himself, but there was more confidence in the way he spoke. He didn't question his ability to do exactly what he said he was going to do. And she didn't doubt him. And she tried very hard to convince herself that it wasn't a very attractive quality to see in him.

"Fine, I guess I can trust you to do that."

He smirked at her and thanked the house elf that came to grab his dishes. They left the kitchens and began to head back to their shared common room.

"Have you been sleeping in the Slytherin dorm this whole time?" Rose asked, hoping she wasn't straying into dangerous territory.

"Not every night," he said. "There were a few times I saw you in the library late and slipped in before you got back."

She tried not to let his confession of obvious avoidance bother her. It didn't seem entirely fair that he'd gone out of his way to keep his distance.

"Well I'm glad things are relatively back to normal now," she said. He nodded in agreement.

Although, things didn't feel like they were back to normal. Normally, they wouldn't be walking with a broom length between them. Normally, she wouldn't have to worry that the next thing out of her mouth had the potential to upset him. Normally, she'd feel perfectly comfortable to make plans for the following day. Even though their conversation following her apology had been friendly enough, something seemed off. There was still something hanging there, and she couldn't help but feel like he hadn't quite forgiven her. Another option came to her mind to explain the slight coldness she still felt from him, but she desperately didn't want it to be the truth.

Maybe he could forgive her, but could he be her friend?

They continued to the common room in a somewhat uncomfortable silence. By the time they were about to head their separate ways into their dorm rooms, she finally worked up the determination to speak her fears.

"Scorpius?"

He paused outside his room and looked at her expectantly. She fidgeted for a moment from where she stood in front of the fireplace.

"Are things going to be different now?"

She was hoping he would ask her to explain, that he wouldn't know what she was talking about, that nothing would ever cause them to really drift apart for good. But the closed off look in his eyes gave her his answer before he even spoke.

"Rose, you became one of my best friends right when I needed you. And I'll forever be grateful for that. But we're growing up. And I can't pretend that things don't change."

She did her best to keep the tears from welling up in her eyes.

"What are you saying?" she asked, trying to sound stronger than she felt. He let out a heavy sigh and hung his head for a second before looking back at her, a small amount of pain evident in his eyes.

"I'm just saying that people make mistakes and people make choices. And there are consequences. Rose, you'll always be my friend and I'll always care about you, but maybe that looks different now."

She took a second to let the truth of his words sink in before looking down to collect herself and hoping her few tears would go unnoticed. She looked back at him - the boy she'd grown up with, eventually became friends with, and was now dangerously close to falling for. He was a man now, and she wasn't sure when it had happened. But it pained her to think of him being the incredible man she knew he would be, but without her in his life. He didn't need her. He might not even trust her. It would take some time, but she was resolved to learn how not to need him too.

A small smile, a nod, and she bid him goodnight before walking towards her dorm with her head held high, closing the door behind her without looking back.

* * *

 **A/N: Wow. It's been so long. I've been busy and focusing on other stories but I'll try to be better! Lots of Scorpius and Rose for you and there's more where that came from! I'm very much looking forward to the next few chapters as some plot points develop :)**

 **Thanks for all the amazing reviews! Keep them coming and much love to you all.**

 **Happy Reading!**


	17. If it all fell to pieces tomorrow

It had always bothered him, the way the portraits all snored in sync. There were a few that were awake and watching him, including Severus Snape, who gave him a subtle wink when they made eye contact. It made Scorpius chuckle when the same portrait immediately started frowning as soon as the Head Girl walked in. She gave an involuntary shiver as she took the seat next to Scorpius in the Headmistress' office.

"I hate how they just stare," Rose said as she looked around the room with trepidation.

"It bothers me a little more when they're asleep, to be honest," he said with a grimace. Rose chuckled as he squirmed in his seat.

"That's because Professor Snape actually likes you. He wasn't very fond of my parents and has a bad case of prejudice."

Scorpius quirked an eyebrow at her as she continued to glance around the room while they waited for the Headmistress. She stopped when she noticed his eyes on her.

"What?" she asked, looking slightly nervous under his gaze. He shrugged and looked away.

"Nothing. I just keep realizing how widespread the disease of prejudice actually runs."

She didn't say anything in response and he wasn't surprised. Things had ended in a slightly awkward manner the night before and he couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret. He might have meant what he'd said in the moment, but he'd tossed and turned all night, wishing he'd said something different. He knew he wasn't the most trusting person, and he had prided himself in that for years. Not letting people in or giving them the opportunity to use him or betray him was an art he had perfected. It had been the easiest to let his guard down with Al. Scorpius had been able to tell right away that he had the same misgivings about people that he did, and for some reason, it made him inclined to trust the boy with sloppy black hair. It had been different with Rose. It had taken time for their friendship to grow and for her to earn his trust. But once it happened, he couldn't imagine not having faith in the girl who encouraged him in his studies and supported him when things got tough. Had he ruined that?

Rose had seemed a little on edge most of the day. Things hadn't changed much. He hadn't changed where he sat in class during the past few weeks so there was no need to change back, but he had stopped making an effort to ignore her. He'd even gone so far as to say hello to her every time he saw her.

Erin and Al had seemed thrilled by this new development. Rose would respond, but in a more subtle way than the Rose he was used to. She hadn't taken any initiative to start conversations. Standoffish might be the right word to describe her demeanor, and he knew it was mostly his fault. Maybe he could make things right tonight? They had rounds to go on after dinner. He could clear things up then.

The door behind them opened as the Headmistress entered her office. According to their parents, McGonagall was the same as she'd always been. A little grayer and with a few more wrinkles, perhaps, but still fundamentally the same professor their parents had praised. Even Draco only ever said kind words about the former Head of Gryffindor House.

"Thank you both for being here today," she said as she took a seat behind her desk. She removed the traditional witches hat that was perched on her head and placed it on the stand beside her desk before facing the two Head students.

"I realize that I've been rather hands-off this year. More so than I usually am. I suppose it just goes to show the faith I have in the two of you. You've yet to show me that I've misplaced it, and I hope that continues to be the case."

She didn't quite smile, but her eyes were friendly, and Scorpius saw Rose visibly relax. He was also relieved that they didn't seem to be in trouble, but Rose always got nervous around authority. He actually found her need to succeed endearing. Scorpius hid his grin behind his hand as the headmistress continued.

"Which brings me to the reason for this meeting. As you know, Halloween is fastly approaching and, along with the traditional feast, I wanted to run an idea by the pair of you."

Scorpius perked up with interest as he saw Rose do the same out of the corner of his eye.

"You two seem to have a good handle on everything this year. There have been no illicit parties held around the castle, and the number of detentions handed out this year has dropped significantly. Now," she rose from her chair and walked around to the front of her desk, casually leaning against it and clasping her hands in front of her. "I don't doubt that one of the reasons for that is due to the fact that a few of your relatives and their friends are no longer on the premises," she said, shooting Rose a bemused smile. "I also fully believe that you both truly have the respect of your peers. As I knew you would."

Scorpius couldn't help but feel a mix of pride and shame at her praise. Smoothly was not the word he would have used to describe how the term had gone so far. He'd attended more than one party in the Slytherin common room that hadn't exactly stayed within the rules. And the issues between himself and Rose had distracted him from doing his job in the way he knew he should have been. He swallowed his guilt and gave the Headmistress a grateful smile. Rose was positively beaming, but he could see some uncertainty in her eyes and assumed she was struggling over the same truths.

"With that," the Headmistress continued, "I was wondering if the two of you wouldn't mind organizing a party of sorts for the holiday. For the older students, of course. Fifth year and up. Would that be of interest to you and, more importantly, do you think you could handle it?"

"Yes, Headmistress," Rose responded almost immediately as Scorpius nodded along with her.

"Excellent," McGonagall said, moving back to sit behind her desk. "There will be some guidelines for you to follow, as we have never done something quite like this before. I believe the Room of Requirement has been the usual location of choice for things of this nature?"

They nodded, almost too afraid to say anything and ruin the opportunity they were being handed as McGonagall wore her usual stern expression.

"Here is the list of guidelines, or I should say rules, for you to follow, and I'd be happy to answer any questions about them that you may have. Professor Longbottom and Professor Bray have volunteered to chaperone, so you can always go to them as well. Anything you are uncertain of so far?"

They both quickly shook their heads as Rose took the parchment from their professor. Scorpius was surprised to hear the Headmistress chuckle good naturedly at them.

"I realize this is the first official meeting we've had, but you don't have to be frightened of me. I'm here to be your support through all of this. While I might expect the best, I strongly feel that the both of you are more than up to the task. You make a fine team."

"Thank you, Professor," Rose said with a smile and a more relaxed posture. "I guess I'm just so used to seeing you outside of school, I'm never sure how to do this." She gestured between herself and the headmistress.

"Perfectly understandable, Miss Weasley." She gave Rose a friendly smile. "And I wouldn't be surprised if your father told you horror stories about me, Mr. Malfoy," the Headmistress said as she turned to Scorpius. "I was rather hard on him during his time here, I'm afraid."

"Actually, he only says good things about you, Professor. Although, he made sure I knew you mean business."

Scorpius was pleased to see the smile McGonagall gave him. He'd heard Rose's parents talk about the Headmistress as well, so he knew from multiple sources that those smiles were rare.

"We'll meet again in two weeks to discuss your progress and any questions that might have come up. In the meantime," she said as she stood and put her hat back on, "I suggest you get cracking. I've only given you three weeks to pull this off, but I have faith in your abilities."

"We'll do our best, Professor," Scorpius assured her. With a final nod, McGonagall strode out of the room to make her way to the Great Hall for dinner. As soon as the door closed behind her, Scorpius released a sigh of relief.

"That went much better than I anticipated."

At his partner's silence, he looked over at Rose to see her closely studying the piece of parchment the Headmistress had given her. He stood and moved toward her to look over her shoulder.

"This seems doable," Rose said as she continued to read through the list. "We can spend the next two weeks planning and then distribute any duties to the prefects during our next meeting. She has it scheduled for November third, which will be the Friday night after Halloween so we won't have to worry about it being on a school night. I should probably come up with some sort of theme. I'll need to talk to Alice about food and drinks, and make flyers to hang in the common rooms-"

She stopped as he snatched the list out of her hands. He gave her a pointed look and her affronted expression softened.

"And you'll need to let me help," he reminded her. She gave him an apologetic smile as she stood and they made their way out of the Headmistress' office.

"Sorry," she said, once they were down the spiral staircase. "You know how I get about being in control of things."

"It's alright. It's been a rough couple of weeks so I'm not surprised you assumed you'd be doing all the work."

She stopped suddenly and he almost didn't notice as he continued walking, reading the list. He'd made it a few steps ahead before it registered that she was no longer next to him. Scorpius walked back to stand in front of Rose, who seemed distressed as she looked down at her feet.

"Rose?"

"Scorpius, there's something I need you to understand."

She continued to refuse to look at him, so he bravely reached out and gently tipped her chin up. Her rich brown eyes searched his for a moment before she took a deep breath.

"I know you're having a hard time trusting me right now and believe me, I understand that. But you disappeared on me, Scorp. Even before I said the things I did, you were barely around and you would never give me a straight answer about where you were or what you were doing."

He dropped his hand and she looked away again for a moment before meeting his eyes with determination in her own.

"I know you don't technically owe me anything - your business is your business, but I thought we were the type of friends that could talk to each other and be honest. And then you completely shut me out. For no reason. Maybe this has to do with what other people are saying about you, but I was never one of those people. I stood by you. Doesn't that mean something?"

The realization of how his actions had affected her was like a punch to the gut. And he also began to realize that she wasn't the only one his thoughtless actions had impacted.

"And it's not just me," she continued. "It's the rest of our friends too. Al may not show it but I know he's having a hard time. Even Erin misses you."

"I know," he said. "I know, and I'll make it up to you all."

"I know you will, Scorp. But that's really not the point."

What else could she have to say? He felt bad enough as it was and braced himself as she continued.

"I understand that you're having a hard time trusting me, but you have to realize that I'm having a hard time trusting you as well. I said one insensitive thing and you just disappeared on me, after having barely been present for weeks. You never gave me a chance to apologize and then you tell me our friendship is forever changed. How do you expect me to handle all of this?"

Her eyes had welled up with unshed tears and her voice was shaking. Scorpius rubbed his hands over his face in frustration. Not with her, necessarily, but with the situation as a whole. How did it get to all this?

"Rose, I'm so sorry."

Seeing how shocked she was to hear him apologize proved how much his words from the night before had affected her.

"I wasn't really thinking last night when I said all those things. Yes, things might be different now, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. We're all figuring things out, right?"

She looked at him uncertainly and he took a small step closer to her. When he spoke next, his voice was barely above a whisper.

"I don't want to lose you. Please tell me I haven't?"

"Of course you haven't," she was quick to respond. "But you realize where I'm coming from, right?"

He nodded and looked down before bravely reaching out to grab her hand. The warmth he felt from her touch was comforting and familiar, but still managed to make his heart race. He heard a sharp intake of breath and glanced up to see her looking down at their joined hands.

"I owe you so many explanations, but things will get better, okay?"

She gave a slight nod, still not meeting his eyes.

"And as far as everything goes with Prince and Clarke…"

He felt her tense slightly at his words, and he changed his grip so that his fingers intertwined with hers.

"I need you to let me see this through. You can look at it as your first step in trusting me again."

The twitch her lip gave encouraged him to go on as she continued to stare at their now entwined hands.

"We'll have to work together on this, yeah? Stop keeping score and just learn to trust each other again. Alright?"

She nodded and looked up at him, her grip on his hand tightening for a moment before she let go and took a small step back.

"Alright," she said with a small smile. "Fresh start and maybe some treacle tart to go with it?"

She jerked her head towards the Great Hall and he smiled, falling in step beside her as they made their way forward.

* * *

Things looked like they were back to normal in only a few short days. Scorpius still spent time with people from his house, but he could be seen with Rose, Al, and Erin a lot more often. And with Quidditch season just around the corner, the girls were happy to have someone else around for Al to talk strategy with. The first match of the season was always Slytherin vs Gryffindor, and Al took it extremely seriously. Especially since his younger sister was now his rival team's seeker. He used to refuse to talk about Quidditch when Erin and Rose were present, which they had been thankful for, but he'd eventually realised that neither of them cared enough to go telling all of his secrets to the enemy, as Al put it.

They were also very close to halfway through the term, which meant their midterm assignment for Muggle Studies would be due soon. Erin and Scorpius had been paired together with a Hufflepuff named Harrison Hughes, and Al and Rose were in a group with Patrick Allen from Ravenclaw. Professor Mac had managed to divide the teams so that there were no two people from one house in the same group. Thankfully, Al, Rose and Patrick all had the same free period together just before Muggle Studies and had been able to take advantage of that time to work on their project.

History of Magic had been the most sluggish class for Rose all term. There had been other times throughout her schooling when they'd covered topics relating to the war and her family, but never to the extent that they had this year. She knew this was what seventh year would be like, and she constantly found herself asking why she'd decided to continue with the class. Then Al, who'd been foolish enough to take it with her, reminded her that it was necessary if she wanted to pursue her dream.

He was the only person she'd opened up to about what she saw herself doing with her future. She'd only fully realized it a few weeks ago when they had started working on their group project for Muggle Studies. She'd loved doing the summaries each week and diving into the characters and spending time writing. It was the least academic writing she'd had to do for school and it had opened up her mind to so many possibilities. Whether it was writing, or editing, or publishing; History, or fiction, or science. She wanted to pursue literature. And it would help if she knew the history of her world. The only problem she'd run into, was that she wasn't taking Ancient Runes. It wouldn't be necessary for all possible careers she could have in the field of literature, but it could come in handy. It was a roadblock she hadn't figured out how to cross yet.

In the meantime, she'd struggle through the lethargic pace that was Professor Binns' lessons as he went over everything she already knew.

"Of course, though made up of mostly thugs and common thieves, the so-called Snatchers were able to play a rather significant role in the second war against Lord Voldemort," the Professor droned on. Al wasn't doing a much better job of paying attention than she was. He was almost a shoe-in to be an Auror, and it was a qualification to take History of Magic. His father wanted to make sure they were all aware of what exactly they were signing up for.

"The most notable role the Snatchers played, of course, was when they came across Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, and Harry Potter during their hunt for the Horcruxes."

Rose's head shot up from where it had been lying on her desk. She'd never heard anything about her parents being taken by Snatchers before. Why hadn't they told her? She looked over at Al, but rather than the confusion she was expecting to find, she found him to be perfectly at ease; his posture still the same as he leaned over the desk and doodled on his parchment. She looked back at her professor as he continued, paying more attention than she had since her first day at Hogwarts.

"This particular group of Snatchers included notable figures of the war; the most well known Snatcher of the time - most likely due to this encounter - Scabior, as well as the werewolf, Fenrir Greyback."

Rose's heart was pounding as she continued to listen, hoping and fearing that there was more to the story.

"Usually, Snatchers would take those who were on the run, such as Muggle borns and Blood Traitors, to the Ministry of Magic. But, Scabior had rightly suspected that they had caught Harry Potter, who was unrecognizable due to Hermione Granger's quick use of a stinging jinx, and decided to take them to his master's headquarters instead."

How had her parents never told her about any of this? Where were Voldemort's headquarters during the war? And what had happened that had made them decide not to tell her? Al seemed to know. He still wasn't paying attention. Professor Binns continued in the same monotone voice as ever, unaware that he was wreaking havoc on poor Rose's brain and heart.

"Fortunately for the Golden Trio, Lord Voldemort wasn't there when they arrived at his headquarters. Unfortunately, Bellatrix Lestrange was in her sister's home when the snatchers arrived, and proceeded to torture Hermione Granger for information, while Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley, along with Luna Lovegood, Dean Thomas, Garrick Ollivander, and a goblin by the name of Griphook, were held captive in the cellar of Malfoy Manor."

Rose's heart felt like it had stopped as her ears rushed with blood and tears began to well in her eyes. She stopped listening as her mind began to spin in circles. She reflexively reached out and grabbed Al's arm.

"What?" he whispered, not looking up. She gripped his arm tighter and continued to stare straight ahead when she heard her cousin sigh.

"Rose?" His whisper was laced with concern and he reached out to put a supporting arm around her back. "Rose, what's wrong?"

She met his concerned green eyes and fought back a sob. "Why didn't they tell me?"

* * *

Rose paced around the Heads' common room, thankful that Scorpius hadn't been there when she'd arrived after class. He had a free period during History of Magic, so it was entirely possible that he would spend it in their common room. Relief flooded her as she sat down to compose a letter to her mother, but now that she'd sent it off, she didn't know what to do with herself. Dinner would be soon, but she'd spent the last few hours intermittently crying, and she wasn't sure she'd be able to keep her composure around all of those people. She wanted to talk to Scorpius first. She had to talk to him first. Al had told her that he would tell him to come find her if he saw him. He'd been so distracted during class that Rose had needed to fill him in on what she'd just learned. He was as shocked as she was that she didn't know.

"To be fair," he'd said as he walked her back to the Heads' common room. "It must be a hard thing to relive, for both of your parents."

Rose had stopped in her tracks as she recalled the one evening her family had spent at Malfoy Manor. No wonder her parents were acting so strange. No wonder she'd never really been allowed to go before. No wonder Scorpius hadn't told her what was going on. And, most of all, no wonder he thought she'd see him differently.

Her realizations had been what made her ask Al to track down their friend. And now she waited, hoping that Al would at least see him at dinner and send him to come talk to her then.

The thought of dinner made Rose realize how hungry she was, and she decided to peruse their kitchenette for the first time. She began opening cabinets, only to discover that, aside from a few that were full of dishes, they were all empty. As she continued to open and close the cabinets in vain, it finally occurred to her. Closing all the cabinets, she thought really hard about what she wanted to eat before opening them again. She smiled to see a mini meat pie and a plate of chocolate and peanut butter biscuits.

She'd just sat at the small table by the cupboards to eat when she heard the portrait start to open, looking up just as Scorpius came in. Concern was written all over his face as he spotted her and hurried across the room.

"Al said you needed me. What's going on?"

She stood up to meet him, everything she had just learned rushing back to her, and unsure of what to say or how to start.

"He didn't say anything else?" she asked.

Scorpius just shook his head, discarded his book bag, and took off his robes.

"What happened?' he asked, tossing his robes on the back of one of the kitchen chairs. "Is it your family?"

Her emotions were starting to get the better of her again, and she took a deep breath, willing the tears to not start forming in her eyes again.

"I had History of Magic today," she eventually blurted out. He looked at her questioningly, a bemused smile playing at his lips.

"Okay?" he said in confusion. "So you nearly died of boredom, or-"

"We've been talking about the war. All term."

That wiped the smile right off his face. His brow furrowed and worry grew in his eyes. "And?"

The frustration at the situation, her parents, the war - all of it - was too much. The tears just started pouring down her face as the emotions overwhelmed her.

"He was talking about Snatchers and then he mentioned my parents and I never knew they were taken by Snatchers and then he just kept going and…"

She was almost full on sobbing now as Scorpius just stood there, obviously feeling useless.

"Why didn't they tell me?"

Her words were barely above a whisper, but she could tell he'd heard them. His eyes were now filled with care, concern, and uncertainty.

"They knew I'd learn about this somehow," she continued, her tears ebbing and the frustrations she'd felt earlier beginning to grow again. She marched past him and stood in front of the fire, gazing into it and taking a deep breath before she began pacing, her hands tangling in her hair as her mind continued to try to make sense of everything.

"I guess what happened back then isn't what I'm having the most trouble with right now," she admitted as Scorpius watched her every move. "It's more the fact that my parents, the people who are supposed to raise me and look out for me, said nothing. For years!" She turned and faced Scorpius with a scowl. "Knowing full well that you're my friend! How fucked up is that?"

Scorpius's eyes widened at her outrage and he carefully moved to take a place on the couch in front of the fire.

"I even asked them this summer about...well, not that exactly." She paused as a slight blush rose to her cheeks, but recovered quickly. "But they had an opening! They could have said something then. And we even went to your fucking house! Why didn't they say something then?"

"Rose, I'm so sorry."

She stopped her pacing and faced him, noting the sorrow that his posture was riddled with. The anger dropped off her face as she moved to sit next to him. Her gaze was fierce and probably a little much, but he didn't look away.

"You have to know. Scorpius, you have to know that I would never, ever blame you for what happened, right?"

He continued looking at her, his expression slightly skeptical.

"You," she said with emphasis, "didn't torture my mother. I don't hold anything your family did against you."

He dropped his gaze and let out a wry chuckle.

"You can understand why I thought you might, though, right? Your mother almost died in the place I was raised. And my father saw the whole thing!"

Rose blanched at his words. Scorpius grimaced.

"Didn't know that part, did you?"

Rose shook her head and dropped her face into her hands.

* * *

Scorpius could hear the muffled sounds of her sobs but, with their newly re established friendship, not to mention the precarious situation that their current topic left them in, he was uncertain of what all he was allowed to do to comfort her. He placed his hand on the sofa between them, just in case she needed something to hold onto.

"Sorry," she said, having pulled herself together. "I'm just a little overwhelmed, I guess."

"I can understand that. I was too."

She looked up at him curiously, still wiping away some of her tears. "When was that?" she asked. "When did they tell you?"

Scorpius let out a heavy sigh, leaning back into the couch and turning to face the fire. "They actually told me everything the summer before I started Hogwarts."

They just sat there for a while in silence, aside from the crackling sound of the fire.

"Why?" Rose finally asked. Scorpius shrugged, a frown on his face as he nervously scratched the bridge of his nose.

"They wanted me to be fully prepared for anything that might get thrown at me. What if you had known," he said, turning to face her again, "and you'd brought it up without me knowing anything about it? It's why I never said anything before. It wouldn't have been right for me to tell you if you didn't already know."

"How did you know I didn't?" she asked, sounding more curious than anything. He grinned slightly to himself as her academic side started to peek through.

"You said something in passing once, about how you weren't sure how they'd ended up at Shell Cottage. I realized that meant you didn't know."

Rose let out a huff of annoyance and crossed her arms, turning back to face the fire. "You figured right."

They just sat there for a few moments, and Scorpius watched as her brain whirred, continuing to process the new information.

"I wrote my mum a letter," she eventually said, returning her gaze to his again. "I don't even remember what I said, exactly."

Scorpius let out a slight chuckle. "Sounds about like you."

She cracked a small smile for a moment, but her face turned somber again. She scooted a little closer towards him, resting her hand on the one he had placed between them.

"I realize now why you didn't tell me, and I'm sorry I took my frustrations out on you about the whole thing. There really wasn't anything you could have done."

He looked down at their hands, a dejected smile on his face. Slowly, he moved his thumb so that it rubbed against the side of her hand. When he glanced up, it was to find her looking at their hands as well. Her eyes met his when she felt his gaze on her, her face slightly flushed.

"I know you've had trouble trusting me lately, and I realize that it might take you awhile to process all of this. If you need any space from me, I completely-"

He felt her grip tighten and saw her gaze harden.

"Scorpius, stop. I don't need that at all. Remember what you said the other day?"

This time, he gave her a true smile. "We'll have to work together on this. I remember."

She smiled back at him. The worries of the day still marked her face, but she looked markedly better than she had when he found her.

"Good," she said, rising from the couch. "Want to have dinner? I figured out the kitchen and I don't know why we don't do this more often."

She walked past him and towards their small kitchenette. Scorpius stayed in his seat for a moment longer, watching as she began to grab another set of dishes from the cabinets and started asking questions about what he'd like to eat.

What felt like a tremendous weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He hadn't realized how much her not knowing what his family had done to hers during the war had been hanging over him. On some level, he'd always feared that as soon as she found out, she'd run the other way. Now that she hadn't, he couldn't help but fall even further for the girl he had the privilege of calling one of his best friends.

* * *

 **A/N: If you remember, Patrick Allen (who is in the same group as Al and Rose for Muggle Studies) is a dreamy Ravenclaw 7th year that Rose, Molly, and Jill talk about briefly in chapter 15. He'll pop up again.**

 **Hope that's enough Scorpius/Rose interaction for you :) Lots going on and lots to come! I'm excited about all of it. Thanks for your awesome reviews! Seriously means the world and definitely keeps me inspired to continue so keep them coming!**

 **Happy Reading :)**


	18. She could turn all the boys heads

_My Dear Rosie,_

 _I'm so incredibly sorry. Your father and I should have told you ourselves about what happened at Malfoy Manor. We even discussed doing it this summer, and I'm afraid it's all my fault that we didn't. You should have heard about this from us and I hope you can forgive me for being so weak._

 _Have I ever told you how much I admire your strength? I know it must have been difficult for you to learn what you did, especially in the way you did, but I know you'll be alright. You're a Weasley, after all. They're as resilient as they come._

 _There's something I need you to understand. As much as I'm sorry you had to find out this way, you have to realize how difficult this is for me to think about, let alone discuss. I know you picked up on the mood during our visit to Malfoy Manor, and I surprised myself with how well I was able to handle the situation. What happened to me in that house is something I'd never wish on my worst enemy. I know people have faced worse and everything turned out alright in the end, but I was certain that was going to be it for us. I thought I was going to die in that drawing room, or at least be tortured out of my mind. I still have nightmares where I hear your father yelling my name and no matter how hard we try, we can't get to each other, and the pain I endure is unbearable. And I see her face and hear her voice. Out of everything that happened during that war, it's what's stuck with me the most._

 _We can talk about it more when you're home for Christmas if you'd like, and I hope you haven't let this affect your relationship with Scorpius. I know how close the two of you are, and I very much admire him. I think you can gather that we don't hold a grudge against the Malfoys. Lucius paid for his crimes, and Narcissa saved Harry's life. Draco was misguided his entire upbringing, and I think you can see how he's turned his life around. His son is a testament to that. It took a long time for your father to be civil in Draco's presence. He doesn't like to talk about it, but I know it drove him mad to be in that cellar and unable to do anything to help me. He eventually saw that there was nothing Draco could have done to stop his psychotic aunt, but your father's a stubborn man._

 _Your father might not ever be Draco's biggest fan, and we might not feel completely at ease in their home yet, but we know how much you care about Scorpius. We don't ever want to get in the way of that. You might hear a grumble from your father on occasion, but you know how protective he is. And for how protective he is of me, he's ten times more protective of his little girl. We want what's best for you, whatever that may be. We trust you to make the right choices._

 _I don't ever want you to feel like you have to put up some type of boundary between you and Scorpius because of what happened during the war. It's in the past, and while we should always consider the past and learn from it, we shouldn't live in it. Your father and I continue to move on from everything that happened a little more every day. The last thing we want is for our children to wallow in things they never had to endure. We fought those battles so you didn't have to. We survived so we could all live. You're the reason we were able to get through it all. The idea that I could have a future - a career, a life with your father - It's what I dearly wished for and fought for. And you're a part of that._

 _Don't look back on history and feel the pain of what happened. The pain and the hurt needs to be used to better us, and then let go of. See the hope that we had and the futures that we fought for. What happened to us made us who we are, and for that I am grateful._

 _I love you, Rosie. Send our love to your brother as well. We'll see you soon._

 _Love,_

 _Mum_

Rose wiped the tears that had gathered in her eyes as she got to the end of her mother's letter. Hermione might think herself weak, but knowing now what she'd been through made Rose see her mother in a whole new light. It made her see her father in a whole new light. She smiled in fondness and love for the people that raised her. To everyone else they were war heroes. To her, they were just heroes. Rose could only credit her strength to them.

"You alright, Rose?"

Lucy had approached the table where Rose sat in the library, her arms burdened with books. Rose folded up the letter and stuck it in her bag. It had arrived during breakfast and she had stashed it away to read later in private. She'd waited until her final lesson of the day and headed to the library, picking one of the more secluded areas. Friday after class was the easiest time to ditch her friends. Plus they all knew what the letter was about and understood her need for space. Lucy was probably one of the only people likely to stumble upon her, as she was back by the Advanced Transfiguration section.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks, Luce."

The Hufflepuff sat down across from her cousin, a curious glint in her eye. "I noticed things have been better between you and Scorpius lately."

Rose gave Lucy a small smile. Inquisitive and blunt were the younger girl's trademark traits, along with her kindness. She was a good combination of both of her parents.

"Yes, they have. I hope the whole school wasn't talking about us."

Lucy shook her head. "Not that I'm aware of. But it's hard not to notice that the Heads aren't getting along when you're a prefect."

"Fair point. And I'm glad to know we weren't the gossip of the entire school. McGonagall wouldn't be too pleased to hear about the rift that used to exist between her two model students."

Rose said it sarcastically, but Lucy picked up on the nervous lilt in her voice.

"Feeling pressure?" Lucy asked. She started organizing her books on the table and pulled some parchment and a quill from her bag.

"Maybe a little," Rose admitted. "She wants us to pull together this Halloween party for the weekend after the holiday. I think we can pull it off, but she kept going on and on about how much she trusts us and how proud she is. And you know how much I hate to disappoint people."

Rose rested her chin in her hand with a sigh and watched as her cousin cocked her head in thought.

"Well, you haven't disappointed her yet. And I doubt you will."

"I hope not, but we haven't really done as well as she thinks we have."

"Nonsense," Lucy said. "Despite everything that's gone on, you've both done brilliantly."

Rose gave her cousin a small smile. "Thanks, Luce. Your confidence is reassuring."

"Lucy, thank Merlin," said Charlotte Bray as she approached them, her arms also full of books. "It makes sense that you would have disappeared back here. Hi, Rose."

Rose chuckled at Lucy's guilty look. "Hey, Lot. She wander off on you?" Rose asked, inclining her head towards a blushing Lucy. Charlotte chuckled as she dropped the books on the table and took a seat next to her friend.

"I'm used to it by now." She gave Lucy a bemused smile.

"Sorry, I got distracted," Lucy mumbled before focusing in on her homework.

"No worries. I'm not interrupting, am I?" Charlotte asked.

"No," Rose assured with a sigh. "I'm just stressed about this Halloween party Scorpius and I have to plan."

"A Halloween party?" Charlotte asked with enthusiasm. "That's so exciting! I love Halloween. Even when I was younger it was one of my favorite times of the year, and Hogwarts made it even better, even though I miss the trick-or-treating. But a party should be fun!"

"Well I hope we don't disappoint you. What are you two working on?" Rose asked Charlotte. The fifth year let out an exasperated exhale as she took in their rather large collection of books

"Silencing Charms. We've just started in on the theory."

"Finally! It took forever to bloody find you."

Rose jumped as Hugo ungracefully dropped his own stack of books onto the table, closely followed by Bobby Finnigan, who glanced around in fear at Hugo's rather loud outburst in his beloved library.

Rose caught Charlotte's gaze and jerked her head towards her brother with a roll of her eyes. "I found something you can practice on."

Charlotte let out a hearty laugh that had Bobby shushing her. Hugo just looked confused before pulling a chair over from another table as Bobby took the remaining one next to Rose.

"I thought we were going to meet by the charms section," said Hugo.

"Yes, well, Lucy wandered back here and found Rose. So we figured we'd keep her company." Lucy shot Charlotte a grateful smile. Hugo usually made fun of her for her absent minded tendencies.

"Fine by me. Did you two get the first half of the list?"

"Yep," said Charlotte, pulling out a piece of parchment that contained a list of books. "Did Professor Flitwick make you do this much research, Rose?"

She nodded as she looked through the pile of books. "Silencing charms are tricky. You have to do them correctly in order to reverse them. It can go horribly wrong otherwise."

"Yes, he mentioned that," Lucy said, jotting down notes as she looked through one of the large volumes. "And this book has an entire section that's basically a giant warning."

"What were you working on, Rose?" Bobby asked her, noticing she didn't have any books out.

"Actually, I'm not. I was just reading a letter. Mum sends her love, by the way," she told her brother. He merely nodded in recognition as he began sorting through his stack of books. "And why are you all working on this on a Friday afternoon?"

Hugo let out an annoyed huff and looked at his sister. "Because the three of them are over achievers and I'm the one who got stuck with them."

Rose gave a chuckle at her brother's misery before noticing there was a fifth year absent who normally wasn't. "Where's Lily?"

"She's in another group," Charlotte told her. "The topic is so extensive that Flitwick has paired us into groups for research purposes. Apparently, the whole topic of silencing charms has significantly increased in size since your uncle legitimized the _muffliato_ charm."

"Oh yes," said Rose, a reminiscent look on her face. "I remember when we covered this in my fifth year. Good old Uncle Harry, making O.W.L. year even more difficult than it was before."

"If you're not going to help us study, do you mind?" Hugo asked in annoyance, mockingly zipping his lips. Rose's jaw dropped in surprise.

"I was here first!"

"But you're not studying."

"But I'm older."

"But I'm better looking."

"HA!"

Charlotte slapped her hand over her mouth as if to stifle the outburst she'd already had. Rose smiled at the offended look on Hugo's face.

"Try convincing everyone else of that," Rose said with a chuckle. "In the meantime, the fact that I'm Head Girl probably trumps anything else you can come up with. But I'll leave you to it anyway." She stood and grabbed her bag, preparing to leave the library. "I have better things to do than study on a Friday afternoon."

With a wave and a chorus of goodbyes, she left the library, recalling the letter she'd read and anxious to see Scorpius. He'd seemed worried when she'd hurried off to read it, and she wanted to set his mind at ease. She wouldn't tell him all her mother had said, but a small amount of reassurance seemed prudent. However, she was sidetracked when someone stopped her right before she left the library.

"Rose, hey. You have a minute?" Patrick Allen asked her, standing from a table towards the entrance and moving towards her. He had an easy grin on his handsome face that had her begging to return it.

"Sure. Is it about the Muggle Studies assignment?" she asked.

"Yeah, I was wondering if we could meet on Tuesday instead of Thursday this week. I've been tutoring someone in Potions and they went and got themselves a detention during our usual meeting time," he rolled his eyes in amused annoyance, "so I'm having to accommodate his schedule. Any chance that works for you and Al?"

She nodded. "Should be fine. We normally just study during that time."

"Brilliant. You're a lifesaver, Rose," he said with a grateful smile. "And I'll make it up to you, yeah?"

"No need," she assured him. "It's no trouble, really. It might actually be better to meet again sooner rather than later. There's nothing for you to make up for."

"Well," he said with a sly smile, "what if I want to make up for it?"

Rose felt her cheeks heat up as her brow rose at his insinuation. His charming smile was threatening to disarm her, but she knew how Patrick Allen typically behaved around girls. She wasn't about to be unwittingly taken in.

"Is that right, Mr. Allen?" she asked, putting on a no nonsense attitude. He grinned at her in delight.

"You're a tough nut to crack, Miss Weasley. Can't blame a bloke for trying."

She reigned in a grin at his comment before shaking her head at him in amusement.

"I'll see you on Tuesday, and you better be on time," she warned as she began to walk past him and out of the library. She continued to look at him over her shoulder and he turned to watch her go, a wicked smile on his face.

"I wouldn't miss it."

She shook her head and rolled her eyes before turning to watch where she was walking, nearly running straight into her cousin.

"Blimey, Rose. Careful where you fling that hair of yours," Al grumbled, rubbing at his eyes. She merely gave him a look of displeasure before moving past him to continue down the hallway.

"What was that with Patrick?" Al asked, following behind her.

"Didn't you have a reason to go to the library?" she asked. "Why are you following me?"

"I was looking for Scorpius, actually. And seeing as you were coming out of the library, I saw no reason to suspect he'd be in there."

He had a point there.

"Well I don't know where he is," she told him as he caught up with her. "I'm heading back to my dorm, though, if you want to check our common room."

"Sure. What was with you and Patrick?"

She rolled her eyes at his persistence. "Nothing. He was just harmlessly flirting."

"Were you flirting back?" he asked with a furrowed brow as they made their way up to the seventh floor.

"You know, seeing as I can't get anything out of you about your so-called relationship with my best friend, what makes you think I'll talk about my love life to you?"

"So you admit there's something going on, then?" he said.

"No! Merlin, Al. What's the big deal? Can't I talk to a boy and not get grilled about it? Besides, he just wanted to know if we can meet on Tuesday instead of Thursday next week which I said was fine. Is that alright with you?"

He just shrugged and remained silent as they continued up to the Heads' common room.

"I read the letter from my mum," Rose said as they reached the seventh floor.

"What'd she say?" Al asked in concern. Rose shrugged with a content sigh.

"That she was sorry and that it was difficult to talk about. She doesn't want it to affect my relationship with Scorpius so that might have had something to do with them not saying anything until now as well."

"Have you talked to him?"

"No. I'm hoping to find him too."

They entered the common room to find Scorpius reading in front of the fire. Rose quickly filled him in on the main points of her mother's letter, reassuring him that things were fine.

"I'm still a little upset about the whole thing but I understand it's a hard thing to relive. And my mother only had good things to say about you. She wanted to make sure I didn't let this affect our friendship. Which," she said with finality, "it hasn't."

He'd quickly sat up in agitation when they'd walked in but immediately relaxed at her reassurance. Al had wanted to find him to talk about Quidditch, which just did nothing but annoy Rose since they had Head duties to discuss. This meant that she was actually pleased when Erin showed up and promptly dragged her cousin away. Most likely with plans to snog him in some dark corner of the castle, even though she said she needed help with Defense Against the Dark Arts homework.

"It's a Friday afternoon, do they think we're idiots?" Scorpius had commented.

The planning for the Halloween party was actually coming together quite nicely. It had taken almost a week for Rose's mother to respond so it had been a welcome distraction to focus on something else during that time. They only had another week to plan before they would have a final meeting with the Headmistress, and the one thing they hadn't decided on yet was a theme.

"Isn't Halloween a theme itself?" Scorpius argued after about an hour of planning. It wasn't the first time he'd made that point, and Rose was starting to agree with him.

"Maybe, but I want this to stand out and be different from the feast. It could be something like Rise of the Mummies or the Haunted Bakery or something."

Scorpius let out a snort of laughter. "Haunted Bakery? Really?"

"I don't see you coming up with anything."

He chuckled as she scowled at him. "Fine. Maybe we forgo a theme unless something solid strikes us. We still have time, and if we can't think of anything, we'll just do the usual, alright?"

They spent the weekend doing some preliminary shopping in Hogsmeade and met with Alice to figure out the menu. She seemed very excited to be branching out into catering.

"It's not something Rosmerta's ever done but she told me to go for it so here goes nothing," she'd said with nervous excitement as they solidified their plans for refreshments.

Scorpius had plans with people from his house that evening so they had parted ways, but Rose was handling it well. Their friendship, though not quite as carefree as it had been a few months ago, was starting to resemble something she recognized. He had some things he needed to figure out.

And maybe she did too. She hadn't intended to say everything she had after their meeting with McGonagall. Her plan had been to keep her distance and not let her emotions overtake her. But everything had spilled out and while she was thankful things were easier between them, she wondered if they'd jumped back in too soon. He'd wanted to keep his distance not twenty-four hours earlier. Had she just guilt tripped him into changing his mind? The idea that he could easily pull away again at any minute had her wanting to tread lightly. The fact that she knew it would destroy her if he cut her out terrified her. She didn't want to be so reliant on another person for happiness.

So the distance was a good thing. They could each figure out who they were without the other person being involved in the defenition. That didn't mean she didn't still have feelings for him, but for now, their trust in each other was starting to be rebuilt, and things were fine to stay the way they were. She had faith that the rest would eventually work itself out in the end.

* * *

Rose was excited about their character profile for Muggle Studies. It was a little difficult since they hadn't yet finished the book, but Professor Mac had assured them that only what they knew of the characters was to be taken into account and that's the way he wanted it. He hadn't elaborated much more than that. There were some characters who had only been present in the first half of the book which would have been easier to cover, but Rose, Al, and Patrick had randomly been given first pick, and neither of the boys had been thrilled when Rose immediately volunteered them to tackle the protagonist.

"This is impossible," Al complained. "How are we supposed to accurately describe his story and who he is as a character without knowing how it ends?"

"I think that's sort of the point," said Rose as she began skimming through the book while checking Al's most recent work. They were waiting for Patrick to join them in the library and only had a week and a half before their joint paper was due. Rose was thankfully feeling confident in their analysis.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean," Al said.

"Look at it this way," Rose began to explain as Patrick joined them at their table in the library. "You don't know how your life will end, right? But should that stop you from looking back over everything you've been through and assessing your actions in order to improve your character? It's not always about how we end up. It's also about how we got there."

"So insightful of you, Weasley," Patrick said with an amused smirk while Al contemplated her words.

"I suppose that makes sense," Al said with a shrug. "Doesn't make it any easier, though."

"Well you seem to actually have a handle on the character if that makes you feel any better," said Rose, handing him back his portion of the essay. "I marked a few things, but it's good."

"Want to look at mine?" Patrick asked as he pulled out his section. They'd divided the essay into three parts and Rose was left with the task of wrapping everything together and doing the overall analysis after Al wrote about Jean Valjean's actions, and Patrick wrote about his characteristics. It was a daunting task and she wanted to get it right. Both boys had thankfully made her task relatively easy as they had actually been very willing to sit and discuss the intricacies of a character they were legitimately impressed by.

"I'll just make copies of those once you've made the changes I noted and then work on tying it all together. I have most of my part written as well as the introduction if you want to take a look."

She handed it to Al first as she gave Patrick back his section.

"What's wrong with this part?" Patrick asked, sliding closer to Rose and pointing to a section of his essay that she'd marked.

"Well, I think you can say his character can be seen as an example of romanticism, but not of romance. There's a difference."

He gave her a coy grin. "Sorry. I must have been daydreaming about you when I wrote this."

The sound of Al's quill scraping against parchment as he edited his essay abruptly stopped. Rose flushed under Patrick's flirtatious gaze.

"Can we focus, please?" she asked, doing her best not to sound flustered as Al glared at Patrick, who merely shrugged and went back to going over his essay.

Rose had noticed him noticing her since they'd been paired up to work on the essay together, but this was the most blatantly obvious he'd been. It made her uncomfortable, but on some level, it was flattering. Especially when she let herself compare how he acted to how Scorpius had been behaving lately. He didn't notice her the same way. At least, not that she was aware of. He paid attention to her, but there was a difference. Patrick made it obvious that he liked her, and she was oddly thankful for that.

They remained working on their individual sections for the remainder of the hour, occasionally asking each other questions. As they headed to their Muggle Studies class, Al stuck by Rose's side, casting shifty glances towards Patrick Allen, who seemed at ease walking on Rose's other side. When they reached the classroom with a few minutes to spare, she felt a hand gently grab her elbow and she turned to see Patrick looking at her with a question in his eyes.

"Rose?" Al asked from the doorway, looking uncertainly between the two of them. Rose gave him a nod and he reluctantly left them alone outside the classroom.

"Thanks," he said with a relieved sigh and a smile. "That cousin of yours is a little protective, isn't he?"

She let out a slight chuckle, annoyed with her cousin but unable to be anything but fond of him. "He gets the job done. So what's up?"

"This Halloween party. Are you going with anyone?" he asked right away, completely confident in what he was doing.

"Oh," she said in surprise. "No, but I'm sort of in charge of the thing so it would be awfully boring for my date. I'll have to oversee things and make sure everything goes as planned. Terribly dull, I'm afraid."

She gave a nervous chuckle and looked towards the still open door that led to the classroom. She could see Al talking quietly to Scorpius, who glanced briefly towards the doorway.

"Doesn't sound like that's very fair to the people who put all the hard work in," he said. "Come on. Why don't you go with me and I'll make sure it's not so terribly dull."

She looked back to see him no longer smiling or smirking, but genuinely asking for her to go with him. But she couldn't do it.

"I'm sorry, Patrick. I really am flattered, though."

He gave a nod and a small smile. "It's alright. Maybe another time?"

She felt herself give a slight nod without fully realizing what she was agreeing to. He offered her one last smile before turning and walking into the classroom.

* * *

 **A/N: I have been on a roll with this story lately. I've got a handful of future chapters written! I've been considering adding a few more Al/Erin one shots. I already have a story that I've posted one in. I have some ideas of what I want some of the others to be, but if you have a certain missing scene you'd like to see, please let me know and I'll work on it! It doesn't even have to be about the two of them. Maybe it's something else I mention or you imagined happening behind the scenes. I'd maybe consider including it :) It can even be about ScoRose!**

 **Thanks as always for favorites and follows and reviews! I appreciate the feedback and it keeps me going.**

 **Happy Reading!**


	19. Hey baby, there ain't no easy way out

It was Charlotte Bray who gave Rose the idea to do a costume party. Rose had randomly remembered her previous comments about trick-or-treating as a child, and she thought it could be fun to celebrate Halloween the way Muggles do.

"I was thinking we could ask Lily to draw up some new flyers to announce the theme. And we can have some of the Muggle born prefects help us plan some of the activities," Rose suggested when she ran the idea by Scorpius. "I know it's a little late for people to prepare costumes, but there's a Hogsmeade weekend coming up for people to get what they need and I think it could be a lot of fun."

"Or humiliating."

"Scorpius..."

He rolled his eyes at her whine. "Fine, I'll do it. But I'm not doing anything embarrassing."

"No one's asking you to," Rose said with a chuckle. "You can be boring and come as a Quidditch player."

"What are you wearing?" he asked.

"I haven't decided yet. Any suggestions?"

He shook his head and looked down at the prefect rounds sign in sheet he was double checking from the previous week. Rose went back to going through the incident reports but jumped in surprise when she heard something smack down onto the table they were working at in the joint common room.

"Fucking Shepard did it again," Scorpius growled, his palm flat against the table after smacking it in frustration.

"His partner sign for him?" Rose asked, leaning forward to catch a glimpse of the parchment.

"No. He managed to persuade Turner to cover his shift."

"What?" Rose asked in confusion. "Alec isn't even a prefect. Has he done this before?"

"Did it last week too. I talked to him and told him not to do it again or we'd strip him of his badge, but it seems like he didn't exactly care what I had to say. No surprise there."

Rose knew Devon Shepard was an ass, but there was also a reason he was a prefect. He was the top male student in her house for their year. And she knew Alec Turner was normally a stand-up guy. She didn't see him covering for Shepard for no good reason. And why not just get another prefect to cover for you?

"That doesn't make sense," she said, continuing to try and come to a logical conclusion other than Shepard being an idiot.

"How come? We all know he doesn't give a shit what I think."

"Not that part. The part where he blatantly disregarded the rules. He knew the first time he did it that he was in the wrong. We've made that rule perfectly clear. Something seems off."

" _He's_ off. That's the problem," Scorpius grumbled. Rose knew he would have a hard time seeing past his grudge and quite frankly, she didn't blame him. She'd just have to do some digging on her own.

"He didn't give you too hard a time when you confronted him?" Rose asked. Scorpius shook his head.

"He mostly ignored me. He's been doing that since you took points from him a few meetings ago."

Rose was pleased to hear this. She wasn't sure if taking points would do any good since he didn't seem to care about much of anything when it came to the rules. At least he had some sense of right and wrong.

"Be careful, Rose," said Scorpius. Rose looked up to see him watching her carefully.

"What do you mean?" she asked, afraid he was reading her mind as she made plans to confront the prefect.

"I don't trust him. Especially with you. Let's wait till this party is out of the way and then we can focus on what to do about Shepard, alright? I don't want you doing anything stupid like confronting him in a deserted corridor."

"I can take care of myself, Scor," she told him, indignant that he thought she needed protection, but also warmed by the fact that he seemed to want to look out for her.

"I know that," he said with a fond look. "But it would make me feel better. He's probably not exactly dangerous, but I don't trust him."

Rose didn't say anything in response. She understood where he was coming from, but she wasn't going to make a promise she couldn't keep. If she happened to run into Shepard, she had every intention of seizing the opportunity.

* * *

"And that was the moment Harry Potter knew he had to sacrifice himself in order to defeat Lord Voldemort."

Rose quickly collected her things as soon as Professor Binns dismissed them. It was her only class that she didn't share with Scorpius and she was thankful that Alec Turner had elected to take History of Magic as well. After thinking things over, she realized that there was another person she could confront about the situation besides Devon Shepard, and that happened to be the person covering for him. She ignored Al calling after her as she headed across the classroom toward her fellow Gryffindor.

"Alec?" she called as he made his way out the door. He cut off his conversation with Carter Brighton, another fellow Gryffindor, and turned to look at her.

"Mate, what did you do?" Brighton asked with a chuckle. Alec shoved him and the other seventh year laughed, telling him he'd meet him back in the common room before walking away.

"Everything alright?" he asked as Rose pulled him off to the side to make way for all of the other students filing out into the hallway. She saw Al give her a curious look before he too walked off.

"Actually, no," Rose said. "Perhaps you can tell me why you've been covering Shepard's prefect rounds when you aren't even a prefect?"

He swallowed nervously and fidgetted under Rose's questioning gaze. "It's complicated."

"I'm sure it is," she said. "But that doesn't make it right. Scorpius is insisting your friend is just being an idiot, but I can't help feeling like there's something else going on here. He may act like an idiot at times, but if he's smart enough to be a prefect, I feel like I have to give him some kind of credit. Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his shaggy brown hair. "It's not my business to tell, okay?"

Rose nodded. "I understand you're just trying to do right by your friend, but you're really not helping him with this. He could get into a lot of trouble."

"I don't think he cares too much about that right now to be honest."

The conversation had done nothing but confuse Rose even more. Something was definitely going on and whatever it was might be more serious than she'd initially suspected.

"I suggest you talk to him yourself, Rose. But don't expect much. He has a hard time opening up."

He gave her a nod before walking away, leaving Rose to figure out what exactly she was supposed to do next. That hadn't gone nearly as well as she'd hoped.

* * *

"Can't you just ask him about it at the prefect meeting tomorrow?" Erin suggested as they wandered through Hogsmeade.

"I'd rather Scorpius not be there when I confront him. He's likely to bite off Shepard's head and there's no way he'll really tell me what's going on if Scorpius is around. They hate each other. My best bet might be to run into him today."

"Hate to break it to you, but that's not going to happen," Erin said as they walked into Weasley Wizard Wheezes. "I'm pretty sure he left the castle last night."

"What? How do you know that?" Rose asked in astonishment.

"He walked out of the common room with a bag over his shoulder," she said with a shrug. "I was up for a while hanging out with Louis and Caleb and I never saw him come back."

Rose shook her head in confusion. Normally, she wouldn't really care what he was up to, but there'd been such a strange pattern of events and it was affecting his responsibilities. Responsibilities she was responsible to make sure he fulfilled.

"I hope he's back by our meeting tomorrow," she said as she followed Erin through the shop, and it dawned on her that she wasn't even sure why they were there. "What exactly are you looking for?"

"A birthday gift for Al."

Rose snorted in amusement. "His birthday is a month away. Ahead of schedule much?"

Erin threw her a glare before going back to wandering through the aisles.

"You know he gets stuff from here for free, right?"

Erin let out a groan of frustration, turning away from the Skiving Snackboxes she'd been browsing over to face Rose.

"This is starting to get complicated."

"Starting?"

"Shut up. I don't want to talk about this."

Rose laughed as her friend dragged her back out into the street. "You realize you brought it up, right?"

"I don't care, alright?" Erin snapped at Rose as she pulled her into the Three Broomsticks.

"Can't I ask one question?" Rose pleaded as they approached the bar. Erin gave a sigh of resignation and a nod.

"What did you mean? About things starting to get complicated. I mean, I know that they are, but what does that have to do with getting him a gift?"

Erin took a moment to order them each a butterbeer before answering her question. "Think about it for a moment. We're friends, right? But we also share the occasional snog. I don't want to give him something that makes him think I…"

"Have feelings for him?" Rose finished for her. Erin rolled her eyes, taking a sip of the butterbeer that had been placed in front of her and ignoring her friend's comment.

"I wanted to give him this book," she said, piquing Rose's interest. "I saw it at Flourish and Blotts this summer. It's this really old collection of journal entries and reports and testimonies from Aurors during the first war."

"Are you serious? He'd love that," Rose said in surprise.

"I know. But I can't."

"What? Why not?"

"You said it yourself," Erin said with a resigned shrug. "I don't want him getting the wrong idea."

"Sure it's not the right idea?" Rose said in an undertone. Erin ignored her as a crowd made their way into the inn, bringing a burst of cold air with them.

"Rose! Erin!" they heard a familiar voice call. Lily, Louis, Caleb, and Hugo made their way towards them, each ordering their own drinks before all six of them made their way to a table. It had been announced a few days ago that the Halloween party would be a costume party, and it quickly became the topic of conversation as they sat in the Three Broomsticks.

"What exactly do people dress up as for Halloween? I thought it was witches and ghosts and stuff. Which seems like it would be a little weird for us," Caleb commented, looking uncertain about the whole thing.

"You could be a clown," Lily suggested with a smirk, the whole table laughing at the terrified look on Caleb's face.

"Are we supposed to bring dates to this thing?" Louis asked. "I heard Patrick asked you to go," he said with a gesture to Rose, who cringed when her best friend spun to look at her with wide eyes.

"You're going with Patrick Allen? And you didn't tell me?" Erin asked in outrage.

"No," Rose insisted. "And where did you hear that?" she asked her cousin, who gave a shrug.

"The Ravenclaws are notorious gossips. Why'd you say no? Isn't he like, a catch or something?"

Rose gave an uncomfortable chuckle as the whole table watched her. "I'll be busy. Head duties and all that."

For the most part, they bought the excuse. Erin didn't seem to be quite as fooled.

"Are you and Scorpius going to be able to have any fun at all?" Lily asked.

"Sure," Rose said with a shrug. "We'll have prefects helping us out and once things are in motion, we'll mostly just need to be available if any problems arise. Professor Longbottom and Professor Mac are supposed to be chaperoning as well so we probably won't have a whole lot to do."

"I hate that my father's going to be there, by the way," Erin grumbled.

"Then why did you say no to Patrick?" Lily asked in confusion. "Seems like your excuse was a little weak."

"I don't know, Lily," she said with a sigh. "It just didn't feel right. And you know how he is with girls. Do we have to keep talking about this? What about all of you. Any of you bringing dates?"

Lily rolled her eyes, Louis squirmed uncomfortably in his seat, Hugo gave a sarcastic laugh, and Caleb kept glancing uncertainly between the three of them.

"These things are much better when you go with friends," said Hugo, downing the remainder of his butterbeer. He stood and grabbed his coat off the back of his chair - Louis doing the same.

"We're meeting up with Dad," he told Rose. "He's at the shop today and wants to show us a few new test products."

"What? Why didn't he tell me?" Rose asked her brother. He shrugged.

"No idea. Probably just didn't think about it. You can swing by if you'd like. I'm sure he'd love to see you."

The two boys left and it wasn't much longer before Erin and Rose headed out as well. Erin had practically dragged Rose from the Three Broomsticks when Lily had started to ask if Erin was planning on going to the party with her brother. As they made their way though Hogsmeade, Rose decided she actually wasn't feeling quite up to seeing her father. Even though she understood, she was still upset about everything she'd recently learned about the war and that it had been through a source other than her parents. And she knew her dad would want to talk about it, which wasn't something she particularly felt up to. Plus, Hugo hadn't been filled in yet, and this didn't seem like the proper circumstances to tell him their mother had been tortured in their friend's home. Erin was trying very hard not to panic about what to do for Al's birthday, so she focused on that instead.

"I don't see why you need to do this now since you still have plenty of time. Just get him something from here," Rose said as she pulled her into Honeydukes. "Even though I still think you should just get him the book."

Erin sighed and glanced around at the other students that were milling about before speaking in an undertone to Rose. "I actually already bought the book this summer."

Rose's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to respond, but Erin immediately shushed her and began browsing through the various sweets.

"I will give it to him, eventually," Erin assured her. "But not until the time is right. I wanted to shop today because I'm worried that I'll wait till last minute and run out of time to get anything else and wind up giving it to him anyway, but I don't want to do that. I suppose I'm overthinking it, but it just doesn't feel right yet. It's thoughtful and personal and different from anything I've ever given him before. Things still seem so muddied lately. I don't want to mess up whatever friendship we have, so I'm treading lightly."

"And snogging him whenever you get the chance is the way to do that?"

Rose ducked as Erin tossed a Pepper Imp at her. She eventually convinced Erin to get him some treacle fudge before they made their way back to the castle.

"You want to know the truth?" Erin said as they wandered through the halls of the castle. Rose gave her an encouraging nod, hoping she didn't come off too eager.

"The closest I've ever been to dating anyone was when Carter and I were...whatever we were. And you saw what that did to me."

Rose remembered clearly how torn up Erin had been. Carter Brighton was an alright bloke, but he'd been so reluctant to actually commit to dating Erin.

"I pushed him too hard. He wasn't ready to commit to any type of serious relationship and I don't blame him since we were only fifteen."

"Are you worried that if you push Al to define whatever this is, that he'll just do what Carter did?"

Erin's silence was enough to ensure Rose that she was right. She laid her hand on Erin's arm and turned to face her, stopping them in the hall.

"Erin, Al isn't going to just disappear off the planet if you ask him to go steady."

Rose was thankful to see an amused smile creep onto her friend's face, despite the uncertainty that lingered in her eyes.

"You don't know that, Rose. It didn't take him that long to ask Mandy to be his girlfriend."

She didn't have a good argument for that one, and Erin gave a look of resignation at Rose's silence.

"I don't know what's going to happen, but I won't get my heart broken again."

She turned to continue down the hallway and Rose had no choice but to let it go and follow her.

They found Al and Scorpius in the joint common room. The two Slytherin's had spent the day with their fellow housemates - something Rose was having less trouble accepting. Scorpius was being more open with her about what he was doing and who he was spending time with. It wasn't like she needed to keep tabs on him or anything, but it meant he wasn't trying to hide things from her anymore. It meant a lot to her to have him be more open with her about his life, but it didn't mean she was going to feel comfortable approaching the section of the common room that currently housed five Slytherins.

As they entered the room, she hesitated long enough for Erin to sigh and walk past her. Rose tentatively followed as she watched her friend plop down on the couch next to Al. Scorpius was in one of the armchairs - Riley Clarke sitting on the arm as she laughed at something her cousin had just said. Lucas Prince and Corbin Zabini were sitting on the floor in front of the fire. Rose moved to sit on Al's other side as the conversation continued on around her as if she and Erin hadn't just shown up.

There had been a few times where one of the Slytherins had been around when she'd been spending time with Al and Scorpius, but this large group was uncharted territory. And it wasn't the fact that they were Slytherins. It was the general feel she got whenever they looked at her - like she wasn't worth their time.

"We can't practice on Sunday mornings," Corbin complained to Al. "You already have our Saturday mornings. You're destroying my weekends."

"Cor, you _can_ quit, you know?" said Scorpius. He threw an amused look at Rose in recognition of her arrival. "Not that we'd want you to. You leaving would only make him work us harder."

"I'm not going to quit," Corbin said with an eye roll. "It just cuts into my social life more than I anticipated."

"Didn't you play last year?" Erin asked. Rose mentally applauded her for having the courage to speak up, being still slightly terrified to say anything herself.

"Yeah," he responded. "But our former captain wasn't as much of a hard ass as this one."

Al just smirked and Rose's eyes quickly flashed towards Riley Clarke as the younger girl let out a laugh.

"Go easy on him, Corbin. Al's the only reason you lot didn't lose every match last year."

"Whatever, Clarke. You just think he's fit," Corbin said snarkily. Rose could practically feel Erin tense up from the other side of the couch as Al fidgetted uncomfortably. Riley Clarke didn't even bat an eye at the insinuation, but still threw a wink at Al, who blushed.

"Some of us are just kinder than you are, Zabini."

There was a slight bite in her voice, and Corbin's eyes rose at the challenging tone. "Who're you to be all high and mighty? You're not exactly the picture of kindness."

"Better than the picture of stupidity."

Corbin scowled at her and looked like he was about to fight back before his cousin stepped in.

"It should be a pretty good match," said Scorpius, successfully stopping any major blow up from happening. "Gryffindor's tough. Anything you ladies can tell us?" he asked Rose and Erin in a teasing tone. Rose shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"You know how much my family would kill me if I told you anything, right?"

" _I'd_ love you more," Al commented, causing Erin to smack him on the back of the head.

"Must be a bitch to have such an uptight and controlling family."

It didn't take much for Rose to send a glare towards Lucas Prince, who wore a smirk.

"Excuse me?" she said with forced calm.

"Come on," he said with a scoff. "It's no secret that all the Potters and Weasleys have to fall perfectly in line and be perfectly good little Gryffindors."

There was an awkward moment of silence as Rose tried to wrap her head around the current situation. She saw Scorpius shift uncomfortably in his chair, but he made no move to come to her defense.

"Don't act like you know us when you clearly don't," she was able to say with a steady voice.

"I know what I need to."

"Mate, knock it off," said Al with a resigned sigh. "I'm not a good little Gryffindor, am I?"

Prince didn't say anything. Just continued to smirk at Rose. She took a deep breath as conversation went back to the Quidditch match that would be taking place in a few weeks time.

It was hard for Rose to keep from glancing over at Scorpius throughout the conversation. She wondered if he was fazed at all by what his supposed friend had said. She wondered why he hadn't stood up for her and her family; a family he was practically an extension of. Sure, Al had said something, but he was part of that family as well and therefore biased as far as Prince was concerned. She had a feeling he wouldn't change his opinion based on anything a member of her family said, but he might listen to an outsider. It was also hard for her not to think about the fact that he could be saying things like that all the time, and if Scorpius didn't stick up for her when she was there, she doubted he did it when she wasn't.

* * *

They handed in their group projects for Muggle Studies the following Thursday. Scorpius was glad to be done with the thing, especially since it meant he didn't have to spend as much time with Harrison Hughes. Although, it had been entertaining to watch Erin do everything she could to stop the Hufflepuff from invading her personal space. He wasn't the most socially aware, and it didn't help that his hygiene was somewhat lacking. At least he was rather intelligent.

Scorpius had been excited for the party that weekend, but things had taken an interesting turn that had him questioning how this Halloween party would actually go. For some reason, things had felt tense all week, and Scorpius was trying not to be annoyed. He'd tried to deny why Rose had been acting odd, but it was hard to ignore. She was far from being a fan of his housemates.

He was trying not to let it bother him, but he also couldn't blame her. Lucas hadn't been understanding about her family and hadn't withheld his judgment. From the outside looking in, Lucas' assessment seemed accurate. But Scorpius knew better.

"Those are supposed to go over there."

Scorpius snapped out of his thoughts to catch Rose quickly walking past him and gesturing towards the other side of the room, a comically large pumpkin levitated in front of her as she made her way across the Room of Requirement. She didn't even give him a chance to respond as she started asking a prefect for an update on the arrival of the food. He heaved a sigh and picked up the tangle of lights he'd been trying to sort through and walked over towards the bar. Mandy Jordan was laying out a tablecloth as he approached.

"Need some help?" he asked.

"Nope," she said, straightening the edges. "But you sure look like you do."

She gestured toward the lights in his arms and they began untangling them. The room had low beams across the ceiling that were perfect to drape lights from. They both pulled out their wands and began directing the strings to their rightful places while she proceeded to talk Scorpius' ear off.

"And I told him I couldn't possibly make that decision without seeing at least photographs of both places first. I mean, who decides where they want to go on holiday without knowing what they're getting themselves into?"

Scorpius merely shrugged in response, knowing she didn't need any help from him to continue talking.

"Have you ever been to Italy? I'm not sure I'd like it very much. I don't do tomatoes and they're in, like, every form of pasta, and that's one of the best parts of Italy, right?"

He moved to grab another string of lights as she rambled on.

"Does your family go on holiday much? I remember Al saying you spent a lot of time together over the holidays so I'd guess not. How is he, by the way? Is he with Erin? I always thought she didn't like me very much when we were together. I guess that makes sense now."

"Why does that make sense?" he asked as he inspected their work. The whole wall behind the bar was strung with lights as well as the ceiling right above it, perfectly lighting it up and accentuating it.

"Since they're together now, right?" Mandy asked as she took a turn to survey their work as well.

"I'm not sure. It's kind of complicated."

Mandy just shrugged as if it were no big deal. She'd always been talkative and nonchalant like that, and it had been a little grating on Scorpius' nerves the entire time she'd been dating his best friend. He liked Mandy well enough, but he'd been glad when their somewhat short fling had ended.

"Looks good," she said. "What next, Head Boy?"

Scorpius glanced around the room. Everything was starting to come together for the party that would be taking place later that evening. He'd let Rose plan most of the decorations, and she'd done splendidly. There was a wall stacked with pumpkins and a table set in front of it for people to carve them on. Long tables had been set up along the back wall for the food to be placed on when it arrived. A lantern hung in the middle of the room, lights streaming out from it and over the hardwood floor that would later be covered in dancing Hogwarts students in ridiculous costumes.

"I think we're just about done, but I'd check with the Head Girl first."

Mandy wandered off towards Rose, who was overseeing the final set up of the apple bobbing station. Scorpius watched as she turned to look around the room when Mandy approached her in search of another task. It wasn't hard for Scorpius to see the pride on her face as she took in all their hard work. He slowly made his way towards her, feeling inexplicably nervous.

"I don't see where the fun is in dunking your head in a bucket of water," he said as he approached her. She gave a tight smile and called for all the prefects to gather around.

"This looks amazing, really. You all are wonderful. Thank you so much for your hard work. Does everyone remember what they're supposed to do tonight?"

There was nodding and a general look of understanding among the group of prefects, and Rose dismissed them, encouraging them to have a good time later that evening.

"We did alright, eh?" said Scorpius as the prefects headed out. Rose nodded, moving towards one of the food tables to collect her bag.

"I think it's going to be a big hit," he said. Rose once again didn't respond, and he sighed in frustration as she distracted herself with looking through her bag as she made her way towards the entrance to the room. He followed after her, determined to make things as normal as possible and to get her to stop being so stubborn.

"What are you planning on doing until the party?" he asked as he followed her out of the room. She slowed and looked over her shoulder as he caught up.

"I think I'll take a nap," she said. "I haven't been feeling that well."

He took a closer look at her and noticed that her eyes did look a little heavy and purple, even bloodshot. Her complexion was even a little clammy.

"You alright?" he asked in concern.

"I'm not feeling well," she repeated, an annoyed tone lacing her words. "Do you have any other stupid questions to ask?"

"I'm sorry," he said in surprise. "No need to get snappy. Just seems like you've been ignoring me all day. Which isn't easy seeing as we're the ones responsible for this evening going well."

She let out a sigh but refused to look at him as they continued walking back to their common room. "I don't really want to talk about this."

"So there is something to talk about?"

"Please, Scorpius." She stopped and turned to face him, her whole stature betraying how tired she was. "I'm really not feeling well, I'm tired, and I very much want tonight to go perfectly. Getting into this with you right now would definitely not help any of those things."

She turned and started to head towards the common room once again. Scorpius felt his frustrations mounting as he followed after her.

"Is this about what Prince said the other day?" he asked as he caught up with her. The way her shoulders visibly tensed up in response to his question was all the answer he needed. "I'm sorry he said what he did. He's an idiot. You shouldn't care what others think about you."

"I don't need you feeding me some 'just be yourself' shit right now," she snapped. "And that's really not what this is about, but like I said, I don't want to talk about it right now."

They reached the portrait and Rose quickly told Margaret the password before entering.

"Well we're talking about it now anyway," Scorpius argued as Rose made her way towards her room. "Can't we just sort this out?" He felt relief as she stopped and turned to face him, but that relief was short lived when he saw the cold look on her face.

"No, Scorpius. It's not that simple. But it would have been nice if you'd been this vocal the other day."

He looked at her in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that you just sat there," Rose said in indignation, "and watched as your so-called friend made judgmental comments about your other so-called friends."

He stared at her in wonder. This was definitely not why he thought she'd been upset. "What was I supposed to do?" he asked incredulously.

"Oh, I don't know. Have my back, maybe? You made Al stand up for his own family! There's no way that's going to help change Prince's opinion, but maybe if you said something it would. And maybe I don't give a fuck about what Lucas Prince thinks of my family, but when my best friend just sits there and let's some no good, judgmental ass make degrading comments about me and the people I love, I can't help but think that deep down, he might just share the same opinion."

Scorpius just stood there, shell shocked, as Rose stormed into her room, slamming the door shut behind her.

* * *

 **A/N: So lots happening in this chapter. I'm really excited about the next one. Do you understand where Rose is coming or do you think she over reacted? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the form of a review! They make my day and help me make this story better. You inspire me!**

 **Happy Reading :)**


	20. Just a taste will do

After tossing and turning in agitation for a while, Rose was finally able to drift off to sleep for a few hours. Feeling refreshed, she'd left the common room and made her way to the Room of Requirement an hour before the party without any sign of Scorpius.

Rose had to be there early to make sure Alice had everything she needed to get the food and drinks all set up. She'd been able to wear most of her costume as they worked, but she'd brought the finishing touch to put on later.

"There are charms placed on them to keep the food fresh and to replenish as well," Alice was telling her as she set out the last few trays of food. "Same goes for the drinks. Does it all look alright?"

"It looks fantastic," Neville said as he hovered over the table. "Want me to test any of this for you?"

Rose and Alice chuckled at his question, but Alice pulled him back from the table.

"This is for the children, Dad," she chided him.

"But I'm stuck here all night," he complained.

"Come on, Professor Longbottom," Rose teased. "You know you've been looking forward to this for weeks."

He gave Rose a guilty smile, the straw hat he wore on his head comically making his ears stick out.

"You know Erin is going to be embarrassed when she sees you, right?" Alice told her father. He just shrugged as if he couldn't be bothered by his youngest child's antics.

"Everything is all set with the haunted maze," Professor Bray informed them as he approached. He was dressed in clothes that Rose suspected would have been worn in the eighteen hundreds. Maybe by a soldier, based on his coat.

"Thank you," Rose said. "I think we're just about ready." She turned around to take in the room. Hugo and Lucy were over by the pumpkin carving station, prepared to give directions should anyone need them. Other prefects had been assigned to the other stations, and they'd all be taking shifts throughout the night since they had more prefects than jobs to be done, which they were all thankful for.

"Do you need anything else from me?" Alice asked, making like she was about to head out.

"No, but you're more than welcome to stay," Rose assured her.

"Oh, no. I wouldn't want to intrude," she said dismissively.

"You wouldn't, I promise. Unless you don't want to be surrounded by a bunch of kids. _That,_ I can understand."

Alice gave a light chuckle, but Rose's professor spoke up before she could respond.

"You could help us chaperone," said Professor Mac, gesturing between himself and Neville. "That way you could enjoy yourself, but still feel like an adult."

She gave him a small smile but still seemed reluctant. "That does sound tempting, but I didn't exactly bring a costume."

"You don't need one," he said with a shrug. "Come on. You can take a shift to patrol the halls and reminisce a little bit."

She chuckled and looked at her father for his opinion.

"It's fine with me," Neville assured her.

"Alright then," Alice said with a bright smile. "I just need to Floo and make sure my staff is all set for the rest of the evening. Can I use your office?" she asked her father.

"Actually, mine is closer," Professor Mac offered. "Want me to point you the way?"

She nodded and followed him out of the Room of Requirement, leaving Rose and Professor Longbottom to watch as the pair easily slipped into conversation.

"He's a good bloke," Neville commented, watching his daughter laugh at something his colleague had said as the door closed behind them. "Doesn't mean I won't be keeping an eye on him."

Rose couldn't help but grin as her professor wandered off. Alice deserved to be happy and everyone knew it. But Malcolm Bray had a tough road ahead of him if he wanted to prove himself to Alice's family. Rose really liked her new professor, though, so she was definitely rooting for him. She just hoped he _did_ like Alice and wasn't about to lead her on.

Taking one last look around the room, Rose glanced at the clock above the entrance. It was time for the party to start and Professor Longbottom and Peter Macmillan were propping open the doors as the first students began to arrive and music started to fill the room. She felt a rush of anticipation that was quickly followed by a sinking feeling as her eyes scanned the room once more, confirming her suspicions. Rose let out a huff of frustration and grabbed her bag, which contained the rest of her costume, and headed towards the bathroom in the far corner of the room. Scorpius hadn't shown up to help set up and she'd tried not to let it bother her. She had yelled at him earlier, so she could understand him wanting to avoid her, but she didn't approve of him shirking his duties.

She reentered the party with her costume fully intact to find the room already starting to fill up with students in costumes. It brought a smile to Rose's face to already see students lining up to carve pumpkins and go down the haunted hallway. All of their hard work was paying off.

"Rose! You look fantastic!"

She turned to see Lily skipping towards her and laughed. Her face was covered in intricately painted brown designs and she was dressed in tight fitting clothes in the same color head to toe. Her chin length hair was held back by a headband that had branches sticking up across it.

"A tree?" Rose asked "You came up with a tree?"

"I thought it was rather creative, actually," Lily said with a smirk. "Lucy is water and Charlotte's fire, which technically makes me the earth."

"I wondered what Lucy was," Rose said with a bemused shake of her head, thinking of her cousin who'd shown up dressed all in blue. Louis and Caleb had arrived as well and came to join them.

"What are you wearing?" Lily asked with a laugh, taking in her cousin and his friend.

"I'm a Muggle police officer. See my badge?" Louis pointed to a gold star that was pinned to his chest while the cap that was too large for his head slipped over his eyes. "And he's a Muggle firefighter," he gestured to Caleb, who didn't seem too pleased with the comically large yellow helmet he was wearing.

"I'm taking this thing off," he grumbled, removing the helmet.

"Don't," Lily said with a teasing laugh. "It distracts from the hideous boots you're wearing."

Caleb scowled at her as she continued to laugh. He stormed off towards the food table, Lily following and hollering after him that she was just messing around.

"Have you seen Scorpius?" Rose asked Louis, who was struggling to keep his hat straight.

"He was over by the drink table a minute ago," he told her. "Did you guys like, coordinate your theme or was that accidental?"

Rose looked at him in surprise. She had no idea what Scorpius had decided to come as but she couldn't possibly think of what he would come up with that had anything to do with her costume. She started wandering in the direction of the bar, greeting people as she went, pleased with the general consensus that the party was already a hit. When she finally saw her fellow Head student, she stopped short and cursed under her breath.

He looked like a straight out of the 1940's dreamboat in dark khaki pants, a khaki collared shirt, and a brown leather bomber jacket. To top it all off, he was wearing sunglasses that were rather large and rounded, wonderfully flattering his angular features. He was currently leaning against the bar, a drink in his hand and an indifferent look on his face. As far as she could tell at least. It was hard to read his features under the shades. The attractive nature of the entire thing made it very hard to stay mad at him.

"Where were you?" she bit out as she approached him. He looked lazily over at her, taking a sip of his drink.

"Didn't think you'd want me here. Was I wrong?"

"Scorp," she said with a huff, "it was your duty to be here, no matter what's going on between us."

"What are you supposed to be exactly?" he asked, gesturing to her costume.

"A monarch butterfly," she said, feeling self conscious for a moment about the wings attached to her back. "Louis actually asked if we coordinated our outfits."

"How does that make any sense?" he droned.

"You're a pilot, right? We both fly."

He gave a nod in understanding, going back to his drink and appearing to no longer be interested in the conversation. Rose took a deep breath to compose her frustrated nerves.

"Is there a reason you're acting like a prick?"

She wished she could see his eyes, but the sunglasses were making it difficult to fully comprehend his expression. His body language gave away that he at least felt uncomfortable with her accusatory glare, maybe even a little guilty.

"I'm not acting like a prick. Just figured you'd want some space."

She sighed and took a step closer so she was leaning on the bar next to him. Mandy Jordan was on drink duty and stepped away when Rose shot a pointed look at her.

"Look, I'm still upset with you, but I'm sorry I yelled. We can talk about it later but right now, we need to be a team. Can we do that?"

He exhaled heavily and shoved the glasses up on the top of his head, rubbing his eyes. "Sure."

She waited for him to elaborate, maybe even apologize. When he didn't, she nodded and walked away, hoping the night would improve as it went on. A moment later, she was nearly steamrolled by Erin, who was wearing cat ears and had whiskers painted on her face.

"My dad is dressed as a farmer. A _farmer_!"

Rose laughed at the horrified shock on Erin's face.

"Could he have come up with anything more ridiculous? Does he want me to die from embarrassment?"

"Nevermind that," Rose said with a wave of dismissal. "I thought you might want to know that your sister and our professor sure are hitting it off tonight."

The look of outrage on Erin's face slipped away to be replaced with excited incredulity. "Really?" she asked, her eyes searching the room for any sign of her sister. "I'm hoping you're referring to Professor Mac."

"No, she's taken a liking to Flitwick," Rose responded sarcastically. "Yes, I mean Professor Mac. I suggested she stay, but he did the convincing. He walked her to his office so she could Floo the inn and let them know she's staying. I haven't seen them since."

Erin grinned giddily, but they were soon interrupted by a rather annoyed looking Al.

"What did you do, Rose?"

Rose let out a sigh and rolled her eyes. "Not again. You're always sticking up for him, Al. Maybe I'm not the one who did something."

Her cousin smirked at her. "Yet you know exactly what I'm talking about."

Rose scowled at him. "Whatever. I can't take you seriously with that thing on your shoulder."

She gestured to the stuffed parrot that completed his ensemble.

"Pirates have pet parrots," he said as if it were obvious.

"It is kind of disturbing," Erin agreed, dodging as the stuffed bird nearly took her eye out when he spun to look at her. "The rest is kind of sexy," she assured him, taking in his open shirt and fitted black pants.

Rose rolled her eyes and held in a gag as her cousin smirked and gave her best friend a once over. "You don't look so bad yourself, Longbottom."

A sound of displeasure escaped Rose, but neither of them seemed to notice. "I have Head duties to attend to, if you'll excuse me."

She left them to it, trying not to feel a stab of loneliness, and began to wander around, making sure the prefects were covering their stations and no one needed anything. The next hour was filled with shallow conversations as she was stopped by various people. Parties were never really her thing as far as attending went, but she always enjoyed throwing them. She felt more in her element watching over everything than she did on the dance floor. Erin did manage to pull her out for a few dances, but she quickly excused herself to get a drink as soon as she got the chance.

So far, she'd managed to avoid Scorpius, or he'd managed to avoid her. She wasn't entirely sure which at this point. Rose was considering going to look for him - to say what, she didn't know - when she heard a loud, gravelly sounding laugh as she walked towards the pumpkin carving station. Looking up, she saw Scorpius standing next to Riley Clarke as she tried and failed to jab a carving instrument into a giant pumpkin.

"Who's dumb idea was it to do this without magic?" she asked the Head Boy with a laugh as Rose slowly approached them.

"We thought it could be fun," he teased. "It's a Muggle themed party and this is how they do it, apparently."

"Are you sure you don't mean Rose thought it would be fun? I have a feeling she just likes to watch people suffer."

Rose stopped short and quickly diverted her path, hiding behind a group of students still within hearing distance. She pretend to be preoccupied with fixing some decorations that were wrapped around a pillar.

"What's that mean?" she heard Scorpius say.

Riley let out a scoff. "Come on. Even though you haven't talked about it, I know you two haven't been getting along lately. I just figured that was mostly her fault. She's always seemed a little stuck up to me."

Rose held her breath as there was a rather long pause before Scorpius spoke up.

"Maybe we've had our problems, but you don't know Rose. She's a good person. One of the best people I know."

Rose could practically hear Riley shrug as she responded with an unconvinced tone. "Whatever you say."

Releasing a sigh of relief, Rose walked away before she could hear anything else, pleased that, even though Scorpius hadn't said much, at least it was something this time. But the idea of going up and talking to him when Riley was there didn't appeal to her. They'd have time to talk later.

Rose continued to wander and took in what was so far a successful party. She saw Hugo and Al holding court in the middle of the dance floor and laughed at the ridiculous moves they were showcasing. Various people cheered for each of them as they challenged each other with one outlandish move after another. Louis and Lily seemed to each be leading a side of the circle in chants for their chosen competitor. Rose couldn't help but chuckle as Al attempted to spring himself up onto his feet after Hugo had successfully done it before him.

"Your family is insane."

She looked over her shoulder to see Patrick Allen watching the scene with an amused expression.

"Is that a compliment or should I take offence?" she asked. He looked down at her with a grin.

"Definitely a compliment." He looked back to the dance floor and she followed his gaze. Hugo and Al were now shaking hands as Lily's side cheered loudly, signaling Hugo the victor. "Why aren't you out there?"

Rose gave a shrug as she watched the dancing return to normal. "Head duties."

"Ah, yes," Patrick said with a sigh. "The dreaded excuse to get you out of doing anything fun."

She gave him an affronted look and he chuckled at her, knocking her with his elbow. "I'm messing with you. You've got to loosen up a little, Weasley."

He had such a charming personality, she couldn't help but let a smile start to form on her lips. "Sorry. It's been a weird night. And what exactly are you supposed to be? Some type of clown?"

He chuckled. "I'm Waldo. It's from these kids books I had when I was little. It's a Muggle thing."

"You're Muggle-born?" she asked, surprised that she hadn't known before. He gave a nod and took a sip of the drink he was holding.

"How so?" He looked genuinely curious and almost concerned, although she wasn't sure what he was talking about.

"How so what?"

"How's it been a weird night?"

The look on his face showed that he just might truly seem to care. She almost thought about telling him.

"Nothing. It's personal stuff," she said with a shrug.

"I'm a pretty good listener. At least that's what I'm told." He shot her a cheeky grin.

"Really? Do the girls tell you that before or after you snog them?" she asked with a teasing grin. He full on laughed at her jibe, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I've got to hand it to you, Weasley. You're definitely not like other girls."

"I bet you say that to all the girls."

He shrugged and took a sip of his drink. "Believe what you want, but I still care about how your night's going. You planned this whole thing," he said, gesturing to the room at large. "You should be able to enjoy it."

"Thanks, I really appreciate it," she assured him. "But it's a little too complicated to explain."

Patrick sighed and moved to stand in front of her so she had no choice but to look at him. "Tell you what. I'll go refill my drink, grab you one, and we can find a more remote place where you can get this all off your chest so you're able to actually enjoy the rest of your night. Sound alright?"

Rose looked at his eager and sincere face for a moment, chewing on her lip as she considered his offer. On one hand, she didn't fully trust him. Patrick Allen had a shady reputation when it came to girls. Not that he was a scumbag, but he didn't have a good track record of being careful with their hearts. It wasn't as if hers was in jeopardy of being broken by him, but it still gave her pause. On the other hand, it would be nice to talk to someone who was so far removed from all of her problems.

"I'll take a butterbeer. Meet me over there?" Rose gestured to a corner of the room that had a few tables set up for people who wanted to sit and eat, or just find a place to have a conversation. He grinned brilliantly at her before making his way towards the bar.

Rose let out a heavy breath and started to move across the room. She saw Alice and Professor Mac standing behind the food table and talking as if they were old friends. Rose smiled to see that her professor had lent Alice his coat and he was currently reaching out to straighten the collar. Even from this distance, Rose could see the blush creep up Alice's cheeks.

When she reached the section of tables, it was to find that there were already a few couples who had given up on all other activities and were occupying themselves only with each other. Rose restrained a snigger when she saw Professor Longbottom standing nearby as chaperone. A few of the students weren't exactly breaking rules, but they weren't being shy either. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Rose and she nodded, indicating she'd make sure everything stayed appropriate, and he quickly made his way to another part of the room. Rose chose a table that wasn't close to any other occupied ones, but wasn't too hidden either. She didn't want it to appear as if anything untoward was going on. She was just having a casual conversation with a friend. Thankfully, no one approached her and Patrick showed up only a few minutes later, drinks and a plate of snacks in tow.

"I wasn't sure what you liked, so I decided to get a variety," he told her, setting down the plate and handing her a butterbeer.

"Thank you," she said, suddenly feeling nervous and taking a sip of her drink.

"So, tell me, Miss Weasley. What's got you so preoccupied you can't enjoy a perfectly good party?"

She gave him a sad smile and shrugged. "Parties aren't really my thing to begin with, but it's a lot of things. Everything just seems so out of sync these days. Has that ever happened to you?"

"Sure," he said with a nod. "I've had those days where nothing seems to go right. Particularly on the pitch."

"This is more than Quidditch, though," said Rose. "It just seems like everything in my life is shifting and I've been caught off balance and I don't know how to get my footing again."

Patrick just watched her and sipped his drink, and Rose found herself opening up more easily.

"I mean, I think I might finally know what I want to do when I get out of here, but the rest of it's just all out of sorts."

"Like what, exactly?" he asked. Rose sighed and looked at him, not sure how much she should say.

"Social dynamics?" she hesitantly said. Patrick gave her a pointed look and she sat back in her seat in resignation. "I feel like I'm losing all of my best friends."

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Really? That's hard to believe."

She gave him a curious look, not expecting that response. "Why's that?"

"Well," he began with a shrug. "It just always seemed like nothing could ever break apart you, Potter, Longbottom, and Malfoy. Well," he let out a slight chuckle, "Potter and Longbottom could maybe destroy each other." Rose rolled her eyes but smiled at the truth of his words. "I've noticed that things have maybe seemed strained between you and Malfoy lately. What's going on there?"

Rose pursed her lips and folded her arms, no longer liking the conversation. "Maybe I don't want to talk about this after all."

Patrick's face fell and he leaned forward on the table. "What? Come on, Rose. You can talk to me."

"Why?" she asked, feeling suspicious. "Why can I talk to you?"

He searched her face for a moment before relaxing back in his chair with a sigh. "You do remember that I asked you to come to this party _with_ me, right?"

Rose felt her cheeks turn pink as she recalled the incident. She nodded.

"I like you, Rose," said Patrick. "I know I haven't been the most upstanding guy when it comes to girls in the past, but I know better now. And you _did_ agree to some other time."

She let out a melancholy chuckle. "Technically, I didn't." He looked like he was about to protest so she pressed on. "But even if I had, it wouldn't have been right."

He looked at her questioningly. "Why?"

"Because..." she let out a sigh and tried to search for words that would explain the complicated mess that were her emotions. Her eyes drifted out across the dance floor, spying her best friend standing by the entrance with Caleb and Bobby, laughing at something one of them had said. She turned back to see that Patrick had followed her line of sight, and a look of understanding crossed his face as he met her gaze.

"I always wondered," he said with a resigned sigh. "Lucky bastard."

She gave a small smile at that and he shook his head with a chuckle, leaning forward once more. "Want to make him jealous?" he asked with a twinkle in his eye. Rose's mouth dropped open in shock, her arms unfolding themselves and falling into her lap.

"No, I don't. I'm not that desperate."

He chuckled and scooted his chair closer to hers. "Maybe, but I am."

Rose barely had time to register what Patrick had said before he leaned forward and kissed her. She was so shocked by his actions that she let it continue longer than it should have, before she placed her hands on his chest and pushed him away, backing up a few inches herself for good measure when he remained close to her. Part of her wanted to laugh, but most of her wanted to slap him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she asked, her voice coming out higher pitched than she anticipated. Patrick gave her a cocky grin.

"Say what you want, but lover boy over there looks like he wants to punch me in the face."

Rose quickly whipped around just in time to see Scorpius' back as he left the Room of Requirement. She turned to glare at Patrick, fully pushing him away now.

"You prat. I'll never forgive you if you've gone and completely mucked up my life now."

He let out a chuckle and lifted his hands in innocence as she stood. "As long as you promise to thank me when it works."

Rose gave a huff and turned to walk away, hearing Patrick chuckle once again as she made her way towards the front of the room where Hugo and Bobby were still standing.

"Hugh, did Scor say where he was going?" she asked her brother. He'd dressed as a lion, Bobby as a badger. She hadn't been able to help rolling her eyes at their total lack of originality when they'd told her what their costumes were going to be.

"No, actually," said Hugo, looking confused. "He just sort of abruptly left. Didn't say why. Something going on?"

Rose let out a sigh of relief that her brother hadn't seen what had happened. Bobby seemed just as confused.

"No, nothing. I just need to talk to him about something. Excuse me."

She made her way out of the room, the music deadening as she closed the door behind her. Technically, students weren't allowed to be out in the corridors, but there was already one couple at the opposite end of the hall who appeared to be in a rather heated embrace. Rose rolled her eyes and regretfully made her way towards them, stopping short when she realized who it was.

After picking her jaw up off the floor, Rose quickly turned away, desperately not wanting to disturb them. She walked towards the Heads' common room that was just down the hall, hoping that's where Scorpius would be and trying to shake what she'd just seen. She gave Margaret the password and climbed in, her eyes almost popping out of her head when she took in another snogging couple who were making themselves at home on the couch.

"You've got to be bloody kidding me!" she practically yelled, causing her cousin to spring away from her other best friend. Rose moved closer, pointing accusingly at the two of them. They had the decency to look guilty.

"Right, let's get one thing straight," Rose said with a scowl, one hand on her hip while she wagged a finger at them with the other. "I don't really care anymore if you want to continue making horrible decisions, but I won't have it affecting my life. You're in my common room, you're breaking the rules, and damn it, I was trusted to make sure this thing didn't result in complete and total debauchery tonight. I'm inclined to take away points. What do you have to say for yourselves?"

She looked accusingly between the two of them; Al - who's parrot had thankfully gone missing earlier in the evening - looking like he wanted to laugh but afraid of being scolded, and Erin looking genuinely terrified of her best friend - her painted on whiskers now smudged.

"We're sorry," said Erin in a small voice, scooting slightly away from Al and straightening her now crooked cat ears. "It won't happen again."

"What won't happen again?" Rose asked. "You won't break the rules again? Or abuse the privilege of having the password to our common room? You won't act like idiots? Which one is it?"

There was a beat of silence as Al and Erin looked at each other uncomfortably.

"We won't break the rules. Especially when it puts you in a tough spot," Al finally said. "We shouldn't have snuck in here and we're sorry, alright? It's just that her dad's at the party and, well…" He trailed off, looking uncomfortable. Erin stifled a laugh behind her hand as Rose rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. I'm assuming Scorpius isn't here?"

"Actually," said Erin, "he showed up a few minutes ago and just stormed into his room."

Rose looked at them as if they were insane."You mean to tell me that you kept going at it even when he was in the other room?"

They both squirmed uncomfortably and refused to look at her. She let out a huff of annoyance.

"Okay. Either go back to your common rooms, or go back to the party, alright? And don't do this again. And you know what? Five points from each of you for good measure."

Al looked like he was about to protest, but Erin grabbed his arm and nodded before quickly dragging him out of the room. Rose took a moment to calm herself down and remember why she was there in the first place before moving towards the door that led to Scorpius' room.

She had barely knocked before he opened the door. He didn't seem all that surprised to see her there, and she realized her voice must have carried as she yelled at their friends. He watched her expectantly.

"Look," she began nervously, "it wasn't what it looked like."

He quirked an eyebrow at her but didn't say anything. She let out a resigned sigh.

"Can you come out here so we can actually talk?"

Rose moved to go sit on the couch without waiting for an answer and was pleased to see him follow her over after she'd sat down. He no longer wore the shades he'd had on earlier, and he'd discarded his jacket as well. She still couldn't help taking in his appearance as he stood facing her in front of the fire. He'd taken his shoes off and the long sleeves of his khaki shirt were rolled up to just below his elbows. His hands were shoved in his pockets as he tried very hard not to look at her.

"You don't owe me an explanation," he said in an even tone. "I'm allowed to have my friends and you're allowed to have yours. Even if you want to date those friends."

"Maybe," she agreed. "But Patrick isn't that type of friend."

He finally met her eyes, his gray-blue searching her deep brown. "Didn't he ask you to go to the party with him?"

Rose sighed and slouched back into the couch. "Did everyone hear about that?"

Scorpius gave a shrug and looked away again.

"I said no, you know." she said quietly, and he looked back at her with a small smile.

"I know. You're too loyal to your duty as Head Girl to let something like a boy distract you."

She felt a smile pulling at her lips. "I might if it was the right one."

They just looked at each other for a few momentsm and Rose could only hear her heart beating in her ears and the heavy sound of their breathing. He finally looked down and scuffed his socked foot against the carpet.

"I'm sorry I didn't stick up for you the other day," he said, glancing up at her for a moment before looking back down. "You were right. I behaved like an arse tonight because I knew you were right and I felt guilty. He was being a prick and I should have said something. You have every right to be upset with me."

"Actually, I understand why you didn't."

She surprised both of them with her words. Scorpius looked at her curiously as she tried to find a way to convey what she meant.

"At the end of the day, I know you have my back," she finally said. "But you're still getting to know Prince and Clarke and the rest. I might not think you need to, but you want to form solid friendships with them. Maybe even impress them. And as misguided as it might have been, you just didn't want to step on their toes, so you ended up stepping on mine. I hope you know you don't have to be anyone but yourself to get them to like you, and the Scorpius _I_ know is usually there for his friends."

Rose was pleased to see him give her a look of sincerity. "You're right."

She wasn't sure what else to say and silence reigned for a moment. "I also overheard you talking to Clarke tonight," she finally said. Scorpius looked at her in confusion and she gave a shrug. "You stood up for me when she said I was stuck up."

He nodded in understanding. "I should have done the same the other day. I knew what he said upset you. It upset me too. I shouldn't be afraid to stand up to him. Hell, I stood up for _them_ when you made it clear you weren't their biggest fan. I should have been even quicker to defend you."

Rose smiled at him, a little bit of peace returning to her heart. "Well, I forgive you. But it would be nice if it didn't happen again. My pride can only take so much."

Scorpius gave a chuckle and sighed, running a hand over his face and through his hair before shoving it back in his pocket.

"Why do you always have to be so bloody understanding?" he asked in annoyance. "It makes it right difficult to be upset with you."

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "And why are you upset with me? Is this still about how I yelled at you? I thought we agreed you deserved that."

He cracked a slight smile and shook his head. "Nevermind. We can forget about it."

Rose watched him curiously as he refused to look at her once again. Then she remembered why they'd ended up in the Heads' common room to begin with.

"I told you it wasn't what it looked like," she assured him. "It came out of nowhere and I stopped it right away."

Scorpius looked at her, seeming unsure what to say, until he finally settled on, "Why are you making excuses? You have every right to kiss anyone you want."

She could see in his eyes that he didn't quite agree with what he was saying. Maybe she did have a right to kiss anyone she wanted, but his eyes betrayed the truth. He didn't want her to. Realizing that truth gave her courage.

"Scor, you have to know how much I care about you, right?"

He gazed at her in shock for a moment, and she knew he understood exactly what she meant. She was about to go on before a look of pain crossed his face and he let out a sigh, tilting his head back and looking at the ceiling in frustration before meeting her eyes.

"Rose, don't do this right now."

"Don't do what?" she said in surprise.

"This!" he exclaimed, startling her and gesturing between the two of them. "Whatever this is and whatever you want out of it, we can't talk about it. Not yet."

"Why not?" she challenged, standing to face him. "Why can't we talk about this now?"

"It's just not right!" he insisted. " _We're_ not right! We've been a fucking mess all term. I don't want to screw this up, Rose. You have to - you have to know I…"

Scorpius looked at her imploringly, and Rose felt her frustrations melt away as her heart softened. She slowly moved forward, and he watched her uncertainly before she wrapped her arms around his middle and rested her head on his chest. It took a moment, but she eventually felt him relax as his arms wound around her shoulders, holding her tightly to him.

"Not yet," she heard him whisper into her hair. "Can you trust me when I say we will talk about this someday?"

She nodded against him and held him tighter. "I trust you."

Rose felt terrified yet blissfully happy at the same time. There was a heaping dose of surprise in there as well. However this conversation was going to go, this wasn't what she'd been expecting. She had so many questions, but didn't want to ruin the moment.

Neither of them were sure how long they stood there holding each other before Rose felt him give a slight chuckle. She hummed in question, not wanting to disturb their peaceful moment.

"I think I'm crushing your wings," Scorpius mumbled. She chuckled and reluctantly pulled herself away from him, looking up into his sincere and sharp eyes with what she hoped was a look of admiration and understanding.

"You always did like butterflies," he said contemplatively. "I always wondered why."

Rose grinned. "I think it's because they were once something ugly, but they eventually turn into something beautiful. It's quite a wonderful metaphor for life, don't you think?"

He smiled at her. "Well, I hope you know, you make a beautiful butterfly."

"And you make one hell of a pilot," she said with a chuckle, and Scorpius rolled his eyes before turning her around and straightening her costume.

"Come on," he said as she turned back to face him. "We should be getting back. Head duties to attend to and all that. Wouldn't want some boy distracting you would you, Head Girl?"

Rose rolled her eyes as she walked away and towards the portrait hole.

"I would if it's the right one," she said without turning around. She heard him laugh as he followed after her, pulling on his shoes that he'd summoned as they made their way back down to the party. It was then that Rose suddenly remembered the two couples she'd come across on her way to find her co-head.

"By the way, we should change the password so Al and Erin can't get in for a while."

Scorpius rolled his eyes as he fell in step beside her. "I was too distracted to scold them. But I heard you doing a fine job of it so I really didn't need to bother. We could even teach them a lesson and give the new one to someone else instead."

Rose grinned mischievously at the idea. "That's brilliant! How about Lily? That would really drive Al mad."

Scorpius laughed. "Alright. How about we do Caleb as well?"

"Why him?" Rose asked in confusion. It wasn't that they weren't friends with Caleb, but Scorpius was closer with at least Louis and Hugo. As far as she knew.

"Because it'll drive Erin mad since we're not really that close. Plus, I like Caleb. It could be pretty cool to get to know him better."

Rose nodded in agreement as they reached the entrance to the Room of Requirement. She quickly glanced down the other end of the hall to find it was now deserted.

"I actually found one other couple tonight," she said with a smirk. Scorpius gave her a puzzled look.

"You normally hate busting snogging students. Why do you look so pleased?"

She full on grinned now. "Because it wasn't students."

Confusion crossed his face as he thought hard to come up with who it possibly could have been before giving up. "Who?"

Rose just laughed and grabbed his hand, pulling him back into the party. "Come on. You'll want to see the look on Erin's face when I tell her I saw her sister snogging Malcolm Bray."

* * *

 **A/N: This might be one of my favorite chapters so far. I'm REALLY hoping you like it cause I'm kind of nervous about it too. Do me a favor and let me know in the form of a review?**

 **Happy Reading!**


	21. I'm still not sure what I stand for

**A/N: WHAT? Two chapters in one week? And it's nice and long too :)**

* * *

The first Quidditch match of the season was the following Saturday, which left Rose and Erin to themselves most of the time the week preceding it. Al was running the team ragged and there were many times when they sluggishly entered the castle for breakfast after an early morning practice. He was so focused on camaraderie that they spent most meals eating as a team. This had led to Rose and Erin spending more time with their younger classmates, mostly in the library or the joint common room. Scorpius had been right about how mad it would drive Erin that they'd changed the password to the Heads' common room and given it to two other people instead.

"We said we were sorry!" she pleaded with Rose as they made their way to Muggle Studies on Tuesday. Normally, Rose would be walking to class with Al, but he was holed up somewhere working on Quidditch plays and she'd bumped into Erin on the way. It didn't take her long to start trying to reason with Rose once again. "You could just give it to me and not Al. I swear I won't let him in."

Rose gave Erin a disbelieving look. "I don't think I believe that. And I don't think it would be fair to punish him and not you."

"It was his idea," Erin complained as they entered the classroom. The chairs were set up in a circle, which meant they would be discussing the project they had handed in before the weekend.

"Please sit with your partners for this lesson," their professor requested. He was sitting at his desk and going through some papers and didn't even look up as they entered.

Erin raised her eyebrows at Rose and jerked her head towards the professor in question. Rose had told Erin what she'd seen her sister doing with Malcolm Bray, and the news had gotten the reaction expected. She'd immediately started squealing and dragging Rose around the room in search of her sister.

They never found Alice and hadn't had a chance to go see her over the weekend, but Alice was planning on coming for dinner on Wednesday night and maybe even the Quidditch match that weekend, so they were hoping to interrogate her sometime soon. They'd agreed beforehand that it would be inappropriate to try and get anything out of their professor, so Rose gave a firm shake of her head when Erin seemed to second guess their decision. Plus, he had no idea that Rose had seen him with Alice.

Erin moved across the room to sit next to Harrison, who'd already found a seat and was waving her over. Rose stifled a giggle as Erin sat next to him, looking extremely uncomfortable as he started to talk to her, leaning in closer than necessary.

"Fancy seeing you here."

Rose looked up to see Patrick Allen hovering over her. He gave a friendly smile as he sat next to her.

"Let's not make this awkward, okay?" he said in an undertone. "I know I behaved like an arse, but I would still like to be your friend, if that's alright."

Rose tentatively gave him a nod and a slight smile. "That's alright."

He looked like he was about to say something else, but was interrupted by someone loudly clearing their throat.

"Budge over, Allen," Al said, jerking his head to the side. Rose gave Patrick an apologetic look, and he sighed and slid one seat over.

"You're so embarrassing," Rose mumbled under her breath to her cousin. He just smirked at her as he lounged back in his seat. Rose rolled her eyes and glanced across the room. Scorpius was now sitting next to Erin, who looked like she was trying to get him to switch seats with her. But Scorpius didn't seem to want to be chivalrous. He was just shaking his head at her and trying very hard not to grin.

"Alright," Professor Mac said with a sigh, moving from behind his desk to take a seat in the circle. "I have to say that I was very pleased with the work you all put into this project. Really well done."

The class shared grins with each other. Al even went so far as to offer Rose a fist bump, which she returned with a roll of her eyes.

"I want to spend this hour discussing these characters. I know we've gone over them a bit already, but we haven't really dissected anyone as a whole. We've only done it in pieces, just as we've gone through the book. I know you don't know everything about all of the characters yet since we haven't even finished the book, but you have a general enough idea of the ones you picked. Besides, I enjoyed reading your predictions," he said with a grin. "So, let's start with Fantine. If you had to describe this character in one word, what would that be?"

There was the usual pause before someone finally raised their hand. Rose was surprised to see that hand belonged to Devon Shepard.

"Tragic," he responded when the professor called on him. Malcolm seemed to be just as impressed by his response as Rose was.

"Care to elaborate?" the professor asked. Devon shrugged and leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees and staring at his hands clasped in front of him.

"She just seems to be the person that so much is expected of, but suffers the worst treatment. She's betrayed by the people she trusts, she's barely given anything she deserves, and she dies too young. If that isn't tragic, what is?"

The mood in the room turned stoic and somewhat somber. Rose took a moment to fully observe her classmate and found he looked rather haggard and run down. She glanced at Alec, who was sitting a few seats away from her, and saw him watching his friend in concern.

Rose hadn't had the opportunity to confront Devon Shepard, what with the Halloween party the past weekend. This was the first time she'd seen any evidence that Alec Turner was telling the truth about his friend. He was struggling with something and it was taking its toll.

Professor Mac nodded, glancing around the class. He'd taken to letting them do more of the facilitating during these discussions, occasionally jumping in with a question when he found it necessary. Angie Archer, who had been in the same group as Shepard, was the one to speak next.

"She was hard working, despite her circumstance. I think that's something we should definitely all aspire to be."

"She's also a great example of someone who had to compromise and go through things no one would ever want to just in order to survive. And she barely even did that. So yeah, pretty tragic in a lot of ways," Mandy Jordan commented.

"Excellent," said Professor Mac. "Any examples in your own life of any of these things? I know tragedy and living in difficult and painful circumstances aren't the easiest things to discuss, so maybe even an example where you've witnessed this in someone else's life? Maybe your parents?"

Most people took it in turn to glance at Al, who rolled his eyes at their lack of subtlety. They had taken to staring at him most times Bray asked these questions since everyone knew just about everything about his parents. But there were a few people who were looking curiously at Devon Shepard, who squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. When no one said anything for a while, Alec Turner let out a sigh and spoke up.

"I've seen an example of tragedy, though not in my own life."

Every head turned to look at him, but Devon shot him a scowl. Alec cleared his throat uncomfortably under his friend's glare.

"You see," he continued, "a friend of mine-"

"Alec, shut the hell up."

Everyone's eyes immediately snapped to Devon, except Alec's.

"Mr. Shepard, don't speak that way in my class," Professor Mac admonished.

"I'll shut up if he does."

Professor Mac looked unsure of what to do for a moment, but Alec gave a shake of his head and slouched back in his seat.

"Let's move onto another character," their professor finally said. The tension started to ease as they jumped through different aspects of the various characters and how they saw similarities in their own lives. Rose tried not to be distracted, and even shared her thoughts on her character, but her mind kept drifting to what she would say when she inevitably tried to talk to Devon Shepard after class. Professor Mac was generous enough to give her that opportunity, when he held him back after they were all dismissed.

"Rose, are you sure now is a good time?" Erin whispered as she joined her after class. The boys had started down the hall, but stopped when the girls didn't make it any further than the door.

"He was gone again this weekend and missed the meeting last night. I'm running out of opportunities. Can you distract them for a moment? Tell them I had a homework question."

Erin looked between Rose and Al and Scorpius, who were slowly making their way back towards them in curiosity. At the pleading look on Rose's face, she relented and walked towards the boys, grabbing them both by the arm and dragging them behind her. Rose could vaguely hear Scorpius questioning Erin, who gave a snappy reply.

Her friends made it down the hall and it was mostly deserted before Devon exited the classroom. He stopped short when he saw Rose waiting for him and gave her a funny look.

"Are you stalking me, Weasley?" he asked. Rose couldn't help the eye roll that followed his remark.

"No, but I do need to talk to you."

"If you haven't noticed, I've laid off your friend," he said as he started walking down the hallway. "So you can forget the lecture."

Rose quickly moved to follow after him. "This isn't about that, even though I do appreciate it. This is about your prefect duties."

She'd caught up with him now and he put on a mask of innocence.

"You weren't at the last meeting and you've had Turner covering for you when you know he shouldn't be. You realize you might lose your badge?"

When he ignored her and started walking faster, she reached out and grabbed his arm to stop him. He turned and flung her off, giving her a scowl.

"Back off, Weasley," he said, pointing at her threateningly. "I don't give a bloody fuck. You can have your precious prefect badge if you're just going to parade around and act like you're better than everyone."

"I'm not," she argued, trying desperately not to raise her voice. "I'm just trying to do my job, and that includes making sure you do yours. I know you're not an idiot and neither am I so I know something's going on to keep you from doing what you're supposed to. So what's going on?"

"That doesn't concern you," he bit back. "Stay the fuck out of my business."

"Can't you at least be civilized about this?" she asked as he started to walk away again. Not wanting to give up, she hurried after him and went to grab him by the arm again. He rounded on her and flung her off once more. She almost fell over with the force of it.

"Damn it, Weasley. I'm hanging on by a thread here."

She finally saw the vulnerability in his eyes. He was hurting, but he was doing everything he could to hide under his brutish facade.

"All I'm asking," she said in an attempt at a soothing voice. "Is that you give me a little honesty, so I can give you another chance. I'm supposed to have your back, and I don't want to go to the Headmistress if I don't have to."

His eyes turned cold as he pulled off his prefect badge, throwing it at her feet. "Take it. I don't want it anymore. Now you and that pure blooded bastard can leave me the hell alone."

He turned to walk away, but neither of them had realized that the Head Boy had come around the corner. Scorpius was staring dangerously at Devon, who'd stopped in his tracks when he saw him. A moment later, he continued forward, but didn't get very far when Scorpius moved to block his way - stopping him by placing a hand on his chest - Scorpius' slightly taller stature hovering over Shepard's broader one.

"Everything okay here, Rose?" he asked while still glaring at Shepard.

"Back the hell away, Malfoy," Shepard snarled.

"Shut up," Scorpius ordered. "I should march you up to the Headmistress right now."

Almost too quickly for Rose to notice, Shepard pulled his wand. But Scorpius was almost a step ahead of him and responded swiftly. In a moment, both young wizards had their wands aimed at each other's throats. Rose held her breath, unsure of what she could do other than pull her wand as well.

"Don't be an idiot," Scorpius said, his voice sounding earnest when Rose was expecting panicked. "Lower your wand, alright?"

"That's your problem, Malfoy. You've never had to fight for anything in your life, so why start now?"

"Shepard, back away," Rose warned, finding her voice. He just ignored her.

"You rich and entitled purebloods have never had to worry about anything have you? All your problems just go away with a snap of your fingers or the flick of a wand. It's bullshit!"

Scorpius gripped the front of Shepard's robes and abruptly shoved him against the wall. His wand was knocked out of his hand with the force of the impact.

"You don't know shit about me," Scorpius snarled. "So take your pigheaded comments and shove it before I curse your self righteous arse till you're beyond recognition."

A flicker of fear appeared in Shepard's eyes before he smirked at Scorpius.

"How terrifying, Malfoy. You sure you're not a Death Eater? You know what they say - like father, like son."

Rose felt her stomach drop to her feet as Scorpius moved before she could compose herself enough to stop him. In a second, Scorpius' wand was on the floor next to Shepard's as he punched the Gryffindor in the face.

"Scorpius!"

Rose's holler stopped him just before he took another swing. He looked at her as Shepard swore and held his nose. The anger fell away from Scorpius' face as Rose silently pleaded with him. He slowly loosened his grip and stepped away. Shepard wiped his now bleeding nose on his sleeve, bending down to retrieve his wand.

"Way to prove me right, Malfoy."

He brushed past him and took off down the hall without looking back. Scorpius just stood there, staring blankly ahead as Rose moved forward to retrieve his wand from the floor along with the discarded prefect badge, which she quickly shoved in her pocket.

"Scor-"

"I asked you not to do that," he said quietly, staring blankly at the wall. Rose sighed and rubbed her hand over her face, regret and frustration immediately filling her as she began to fear how this would affect Scorpius.

"You didn't have to come looking for me," she said rather than apologizing. He shrugged in response. Rose let out a sigh and turned her attention to his hand, reaching down to hold it gently. "I'm actually not the best at healing spells, and I don't think you want to go to Madam Pomfrey."

He gave a snort of obvious agreement.

"We could ask Louis? He's been doing some extra studying because he wants to be a Healer so he can probably help. We can check if he's in the joint common room. "

"Yeah, sure," he said, pulling his hand away from her and taking his wand.

"Are you alright?" she asked as they began walking down the hall.

"I'm intact," he said with a sigh. "Why aren't you yelling at me?"

Rose looked at him questioningly. "Why would I yell at you?"

In truth, part of her wanted to admonish him for what he'd done, but another part couldn't entirely blame him for lashing out.

"Because I shouldn't have punched him and we both know it. I can pretend it's your fault all I want for approaching him in the first place, but I didn't have to react that way. He's probably going to the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey's going to ask what happened and she'll have to tell the Headmistress and I'll lose my badge as well."

"I really don't think we have to worry about that," Rose assured him. "If he comes clean about what happened, he knows he'll end up in trouble too. And as stupid as he's been behaving lately, I doubt he'll purposely put himself in a position for that to happen."

Scorpius gave a shrug. "Maybe. Besides, even if I don't get in trouble, I still shouldn't have done it. You heard what he said; I only proved him right."

"Don't talk like that. Please," said Rose. "He wasn't right at all."

He didn't say anything and Rose felt herself getting angry.

"How many times are we going to have to go over this? It doesn't matter what he says, Scor. You get to decide who you want to be, to hell with what everyone else thinks. Stop letting it bother you."

"You can't just say that and make it all go away," he said, stopping to face her. "You can reassure me all you want and while I may know you believe what you're saying, that doesn't mean everyone else agrees."

"Who cares if everyone else agrees!" Rose said in exasperation. "Isn't my opinion enough for you? Doesn't the opinion of someone who truly knows you matter more than what a hundred brainless idiots have to say?"

"You said yourself he's not an idiot!"

"I changed my mind!" she said indignantly. "Stop coming up with reasons to let yourself believe the lies the world is telling you, Scorp. You can't trust what the world thinks. What matters is what you think and what the people who matter to you think. You know that, right?"

He let out a shaky breath and squeezed his eyes shut, flexing his injured hand.

"I know," he said quietly. "I know. It's just hard to remember that."

"Do I need to keep reminding you? 'Cause I will."

He gave a slight chuckle and met her searching brown eyes. He nodded in agreement, and they began making their way down the hall once again. She linked her arm through his and rested her head on his shoulder, letting out a sigh.

"I know you're still trying to figure things out, and that's okay. But I hope you know that you don't have to change."

"I do, though," he argued. "No listen," he said, cutting her off before she could argue. "I've been a Slytherin all these years, but I've always sort of been in denial. I was always envious of how easily Al embraced his house. And I come from a long line of Slytherins. It should have made more sense to me but it never really has. I'm tired of running from it all. And maybe I'll go through all of this and realize I should have left well enough alone, but I can already tell that it's doing me good to just sort through all off this. And maybe that means spending more time with my housemates for a change."

They slowed as they turned the corner that led to the joint common room. "I don't even know if I'm going about this in the right way, but I hope you know how much I appreciate the fact that you're on my side. Not side Weasley, or side Gryffindor - but side Scorpius."

Rose chuckled at him and lifted her head to give him a teasing grin.

"That was incredibly cheesy."

He rolled his eyes as she laughed at him. "I didn't know how else to say it."

"Don't worry. You said it perfectly."

* * *

Louis healed his hand up without issue, and tactfully didn't ask any questions when they found him waiting for Molly in the joint common room. He'd actually been relieved to be needed, since it allowed him to escape the fifth year Ravenclaw that was batting her eyes at him. Scorpius had been worried that he'd compromised his ability to perform in the upcoming Quidditch match, but his worries had been quickly put at ease when his hand was returned to perfect working condition.

The following day, Alice had been expected to attend dinner in the Great Hall, so Erin was surprised when she received a letter from her at breakfast that morning.

"She's not coming!" she exclaimed as she read the letter.

"Does she say why?" Rose asked as she spread jam on her toast.

"Something about not being able to get away from the inn, but she's never had a problem before. Damn it, there goes our plans for interrogating her."

Alice had been attending dinner on most Wednesday evenings since term started, so it was odd that something should suddenly come up, but not unheard of. Although, Rose couldn't help but think her absence was a little too convenient.

"Do you think she's trying to avoid him?" Rose leaned in and whispered. Erin shrugged as she handed her the letter.

"She might be. Alice isn't the best with relationships so I wouldn't be surprised. She said she's still planning on coming to the match, though. That's something."

Rose remembered all too well the change that had taken place in Alice the summer after her fifth year. Rose and Erin hadn't been at school with the older girl, but they'd witnessed the heartbreak she had to endure the summer following. While Rose didn't know the details, she knew Alice hadn't really dated since and had a hard time trusting men in general. She'd always been more tender hearted than Erin, but they were both more similar than they thought.

"What are you two whispering about?"

They looked up at Jill, who was watching them curiously from across the table as Molly sat next to her, consumed in her own letter.

"Nothing," Erin said dismissively. "It's personal. Why are you two over here anyway?"

"You asked us if we wanted to have breakfast with you last night," Jill said in an obvious tone. "We were talking about how we didn't get to really hang out at the Halloween party, so you said the four of us should do breakfast this morning. It's really nice hanging out with people who ignore you to whisper amongst themselves."

Erin looked guilty for a second before noticing Molly, who was still engrossed in her own letter.

"You're right," she said, snatching Alice's letter from Rose and folding it up to put away. "We'll put away our letter if you put away yours."

They all looked at Molly expectantly, who didn't notice the attention she was receiving, continuing to read her letter by flipping to a second page.

"Who's that from?" Jill finally asked, leaning in to look over her friend's shoulder. Molly quickly held the letter against her chest and leaned away from her friend, looking between the other three girls in fear.

"No one?"

Erin gave a bark of disbelieving laughter before reaching forward and successfully swiping the letter out of Molly's grasp.

"Erin, dont!" Molly pleaded, reaching to try and steal it back from her, but Erin held it just out of her reach.

"Oh, calm down. We won't tell anyone," she assured her. "Are you pen pals with someone in Azkaban or something?" she asked as she read the first few lines. Her expression changed from ammussed to confused as she paused and looked up at Molly in question. The Ravenclaw gave her an apologetic look before Erin quickly flipped to the second page and skipped to the bottom of the letter. Rose leaned in to look over Erin's shoulder and felt her jaw drop in shock.

"My brother's writing to you?"

Rose looked up at her cousin at Erin's question. Molly took a deep breath and seemed to do her best to brace herself for whatever reaction Erin was about to have.

"Yes, he is."

"Why?" Erin quickly snapped.

"We're friends," Molly answered, choosing not to elaborate. Erin waved the two paged letter in Molly's face.

"Friends my arse," she said in a furious whisper. "How long has this been going on?"

"Erin, please," Molly reasoned with her. "We really are just friends. Ethan asked me when we were all at the Manor this summer if it was okay if we kept in touch over the school year and I said it was."

"So you're just friends now but you're planning on being more?"

Molly let out a sigh and began to nervously twirl her wavy red hair around her finger. "I don't know, Erin. We're getting to know each other better and we'll see where it goes. I don't want to rush into anything. You of all people should understand that. Can I have my letter back now?"

Erin seemed to have been rendered speechless as she calmly handed back the letter. She went back to her breakfast and the three girls watched her uncertainly before she looked back up at Molly.

"If you hurt him, I'll rip your heart out."

Molly looked terrified for a moment, before Erin smirked at her. She visibly relaxed and gave Erin a smile that betrayed she was still slightly fearful.

"Duly noted."

Rose chuckled and continued with her toast. It was a somewhat surprising turn of events, but now that she thought about it, Molly and Ethan did make a bit of sense.

"What?"

Rose looked up to see Molly, a sausage on her fork as if paused on its way to her mouth, looking uncertainly at Jill, who was watching her closely.

"How come I didn't know about this?"

Molly lowered her fork as Erin and Rose watched in interest. Jill and Molly had always gotten on splendidly. Rose couldn't remember a time when they hadn't. Even she and Erin had times when they weren't too happy with each other, but Jill and Molly could always be counted on to get on with each other effortlessly. This was the first sign she'd ever seen of a crack.

"I'm sorry," Molly said guiltily. "I wanted to tell you, but I want to take this slow and you'd have pressured me to speed it up."

Jill looked offended by the insinuation as she responded. "That's not fair. You don't know that."

"Jill, I know you," Molly reasoned. "You jump in fast or you don't jump in at all. I thought I was doing what was best for me, but I'm sorry if it hurt you."

Jill let out a huff and turned back to her meal. "Whatever. You plan on letting me know when you get married?"

Rose and Erin stifled sniggers at the pout Jill wore. She was always rather dramatic, but she tended to bounce back quickly. Hopefully, that would be the case in this situation as well.

"You'll be the first to know," Molly assured her with a small smile. Placated, Jill went back to her meal and was soon asking about what everyone's plans were for the weekend, which inevitably led to talk of the Quidditch match.

"Are you rooting for Slytherin this year?" Jill asked Erin, who looked offended by the very suggestion.

"No. Why would I?"

"Because of Al," Molly said simply. "You guys weren't exactly subtle the other night."

"What other night?" Erin asked.

"Come on," said Rose. "Even though you snuck off to snog, you couldn't exactly ignore the sultry looks you were sending each other all night."

"Not to mention the rather public snog in the common room a few weeks ago," Jill threw in. Erin rolled her eyes.

"Even if Al and I were dating, which we're not," she clarified forcefully. "I'd still be loyal to my house."

"What about you, Rose?" Molly asked her cousin. She didn't really care about Quidditch so she never had trouble just cheering on her cousins. "Is it weird to root against him?"

Rose shrugged. "I suppose, but I'm sort of used to it by now. And I do root for him in a way. I don't necessarily want them to win, but I want him to do well. Scorpius too."

Erin gave her a look. "Do you remember how insufferable they were when they lost last year?"

Rose nodded. She could only remember too well how Al had gone on and on about the match against Gryffindor almost none stop until they finally had another one for him to obsess over.

"Imagine what would happen if they actually won," Erin said seriously.

Rose laughed, but couldn't help agreeing with Erin. "They would be insufferable. But come on, you can't deny you'll be excited for them if they do well."

"It's different with Al than with Scorpius," Erin argued. "Scorp's a Chaser, so while his goals matter, they don't hold quite as much weight as catching the Snitch in the end. Rooting for Al to catch the Snitch is basically the same as rooting for Slytherin to win."

"And why would you do anything else?" the Slytherin Seeker asked as he slid in next to Erin, grabbing a piece of bacon off her plate. Rose rolled her eyes as Scorpius sat next to her.

"What are you doing over here?" Erin questioned. "I thought this was team bonding week."

"Corbin threatened to quit if Al interfered with his social life for the fourth day in a row," Scorpius informed them, grabbing a plate and eyeing all the food.

Al scowled as Erin slapped his hand away from her plate. "I'm just trying to be a good captain."

"I'm sure you are," Erin said in mocking sympathy, reaching out to pat his cheek. He swatted her away but it still made him crack a smile.

"Aren't you two adorable," Jill commented, leaning her elbow on the table and resting her chin in her palm. She looked at them as if they were two lovable puppies. Erin looked at her in disgust.

"Ew. Save that for my brother and your friend."

The boys lost interest in the food they were loading onto their plates at Erin's comment.

"What's this?" Scorpius asked, swallowing a mouthful of scone.

"Molly and Ethan are pen pals," Rose said in delight. The boys both looked at Molly with raised eyebrows.

"I always wondered if he fancied you," said Scorpius, going back to his food and missing Molly's blush.

"You did not," Al argued. Scorpius nodded his head in certainty.

"I'm very observant, Al. I notice these things."

"Really?" Al questioned disbelievingly. "Then tell me this - who does Fred fancy?"

"Eva Wood."

They all looked at Scorpius with wide eyes.

"Seriously?" Rose asked.

"At least I assume so," Scorpius said with a shrug. "He's just different around her."

Rose couldn't really think of a good example of this, but then she'd never really paid attention before.

"Wow, this is like a super power. Do someone else," Al requested.

"I shouldn't have even said what I did. I don't even know if I'm right."

"Come on," Al pleaded, leaning around Erin to talk to his best friend. She gave him an annoyed look and elbowed him in the ribs, but he didn't flinch. Rose held in a giggle as Erin did a double take, mouthing the word "wow" as she subtly reached out and felt his muscular side.

"It's the Quidditch," Rose whispered, and Erin drew her hand back, blushing and shushing Rose as Al continued to plead with Scorpius, listing off names that his friend continued to refuse to comment on.

"How about Hugo?"

"No."

"Bobby?"

"I said no."

"Dom?"

"I swear, Al…"

"Rose?"

"Al!"

It was Rose who attempted to silence him that time. She stared at her cousin, willing herself not to blush and willing him to shut up.

"I will see to it that you serve a detention if you don't shut up right now."

"For what?" he asked, oblivious to what he had been asking.

"For being a nuisance. You shouldn't even be at this table."

"Since when?" he asked in confusion.

"Since you started asking questions that are none of your business," she hissed at him, throwing in a scowl for good measure. He raised his hands in defeat and sat back.

"Okay, then," he placated. "Don't get your knickers in a twist about it."

Rose took a deep, calming breath and went back to her breakfast, ignoring Al's comment to Erin that he was just testing Scorpius and that he actually knew the answer to all of those questions. She reflexively glanced at Scorpius and actually looked at him out of the corner of her eye when she noticed he was smirking as he ate his eggs.

"Shut up," she whispered as Jill started questioning Al about his hair care products. Rose ignored Erin's attempts to keep from laughing as Al just looked at Jill in confusion.

"I didn't say anything," Scorpius whispered back with a slight chuckle. Rose glowered at him as he took a bite of his eggs, trying very hard not to smile. She gave a huff of annoyance and went back to her breakfast as Al argued with Jill that his hair was just fine and he didn't need any silly products because nothing would make it lie flat.

It was a few moments later when she felt Scorpius shift slightly, and butterflies erupted in her stomach when she realized that his knee was now right up against hers. She chanced a subtle glance and saw a blush slowly creeping up his cheeks as he focused on his breakfast. He was nervous, and it made her feel giddy as she moved imperceptibly closer to him, letting her knee fully rest against his. She focused back on her meal but heard him laughing at Al. She looked to see her cousin running a hand over his hair before she turned her attention back to Scorpius. He was now teasing Al, but he spared a quick look down at her, and she felt her face flush as he sent her a secretive wink.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm going to try and update this story every weekend. Here's hoping I keep with it! As always, I'd appreciate reviews! Whether it's the stuff you liked or the stuff you didn't or any inconsistencies you see. It's all helpful!**

 **Also, I have some images that I made for a majority of the characters. I have this story over on HPFF and I have chapter images there, but it's closing down after this week. I'd love to share them with you all at the beginning of the chapters, but I wasn't sure how that works if it's even possible. Any insight would be appreciated!**

 **Happy Reading :)**


	22. On a collision course

It was the day of the Quidditch match and the atmosphere was tense between Gryffindor and Slytherin - the house teams in particular. Rose was just thankful that Scorpius had chosen not to tell anyone about what had occurred between himself and Devon Shepard a few days ago. That would have only made things worse.

Erin had been made aware, since Devon hadn't exactly been quiet about the fact that something had gone down, and rumors had spread around the Gryffindor common room. Rose had ended up telling her in order to set the record straight. She'd also gotten questions from Louis, Caleb, and Lily since they were all on the team, and Shepard had been the most talkative around his teammates. Apparently, he wasn't being completely upfront about the encounter, as all they knew was that Shepard had dirt on Scorpius that he claimed could get him expelled. This was the same thing she'd heard from Erin, so it put her at ease to know the truth hadn't gotten out, but what he was saying was almost worse. Rose had seen at least half a dozen students throw punches and hexes during her time as a prefect, and none of them had been expelled. The worst they'd ever gotten was a detention and a letter home, so the talk made it sound worse than the actual truth.

Another thing to consider, was the fact that Scorpius could be in jeopardy of losing his position as Head Boy if word got back to McGonagall. But if Devon hadn't been honest yet, she doubted he ever would be.

The biggest concern right now was how the two Chasers would interact on the pitch. They'd always played aggressively in the past, and it was likely to be escalated this time around. Rose hadn't had the chance to talk to Scorpius much in the last few days, so she quickly made her way to the front of the Great Hall as the Slytherin team started to make their way out and down to the pitch after breakfast. A few of Scorpius' teammates gave him funny looks when she stopped him, but most of them were used to Rose by now, and Al just told him to make it quick before ushering the rest of the team out.

"I just wanted to say good luck and be careful and don't do anything stupid," she said in a rush, looking at him with sincerity. Scorpius let out a frustrated sigh and shook out his tense muscles.

"I know, believe me. Apparently Shepard's been whispering threats about taking me out of the match today."

"What?" Rose squeaked in shock. "He can't do that!"

Scorpius shushed her and pulled her out into the entrance hall.

"It's alright. Al overheard it too and he instructed Jack and Eric to be ready for me to take intense fire, and Corbin and Eddie know to be on the lookout too in case they need to block for me."

Rose looked at him in surprise. "You've really thought all this out, haven't you? You think he's serious?"

"I think he's stupid enough to try. And I knew you'd be worried so I made sure I'd be able to put you at ease," he said matter of factly, as if it weren't a big deal.

"Really?" Rose asked. "Am I that predictable?"

"I like to think I just know you that well," he said with a small smile. "I've got to go, but please try to relax and enjoy the match rather than flinching everytime someone so much as looks my direction."

She rolled her eyes but smiled all the same and gave him a quick hug for good luck before he jogged out of the entrance hall, leaving her feeling slightly less nervous than before, but still anxious. A moment later, the Gryffindor team started making their way out of the Great Hall and past her. She offered high fives and good lucks as they began to trail past, whooping and hollering as they went, Lily even stopping to give Rose an excited hug. She only got a snarl from Shepard, who turned to holler back at her as they neared the front doors.

"No need to pretend you're on our side, Weasley. We all know you've got a thing for serpents."

Rose just glared at him as he let out a dark chuckle and let Alec pull him outside. She gave a nod in thanks when Alec sent her an apologetic grimace. It still blew her mind that someone as nice as Alec Turner could be friends with someone like Devon Shepard. At least Turner was the one who was a beater. Rose shivered to think what could happen if the bat was in the wrong hands.

Erin came out a second later and they made their way back to their dorms to get their outerwear before heading down to the pitch. Rose pulled her cap more snuggly over her ears with her mitten clad hands as they scanned the crowd for a place to sit. Alice had said she wanted to meet them there rather than up at the castle.

"Looks like she's not here yet," Erin noted, tightening her Gryffindor scarf around her neck. Her wavy blonde hair whipped in front of her face as the wind picked up speed. It was already a cold day in November, but the wind was making it worse. It was relatively clear out, so at least they didn't have to worry about rain or snow.

They made their way into the Gryffindor section that was speckled with random Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws as well. Jill was sporting a red G on her cheek in support of Caleb and Louis, and it looked like she'd roped Molly into doing the same. They could spy Lucy and Charlotte from a distance, both waving Slytherin flags. It was typical that a few people were always elected to cheer on Al and Scorpius, and it usually fell to Lucy and Charlotte. The boys had said that it wasn't necessary, but the two Hufflepuffs had almost become diehard Slytherin fans over the last few years and now insisted on cheering them on.

Rose and Erin made their way up through the stands and sat in front of Bobby and Hugo, who were sitting with Jill and Molly. The boys were both shirtless and had their own red Gs painted on their chests. Rose rolled her eyes as they stood there, leading the fans in a chant before the match had even started. Before Rose could even say anything to them, Erin had slipped her glove off and slapped Hugo hard in the stomach.

"OW! What the bloody hell was that for?" he groaned as he bent over and held his stomach. Erin just smirked and sat on the bench in front of him. Hugo scowled at the back of her head and reached down to tug the end of her scarf so it tightened around her neck. She squealed and immediately started batting him away as he continued to tug on it.

"Must you behave. Like. Children?!" Rose said in indignation as she pulled her best friend away from her brother while Bobby tried to restrain Hugo.

"She started it!" Hugo insisted, shrugging out of Bobby's grip and pointing at Erin, who just gave him a cheeky smirk and turned back to face the pitch. Rose watched them both for a moment, prepared to jump back in if Hugo tried something, but the teams were starting to make their way onto the pitch, and he began cheering loudly along with the rest of the crowd. Rose sighed and sat next to Erin.

"Why do you insist on riling him up? You know he's got a temper."

"That's what's so fun about it," Erin said as they clapped loudly for Gryffindor. "Besides, it's a lot more fun to pick on a younger brother than an older one, and you don't do it nearly enough."

Rose laughed and shook her head as they watched Al move to the center of the pitch to shake hands with the Gryffindor captain. It wasn't a surprise when Miranda Robertson had been chosen to lead the Gryffindor team that year. In all the years they'd shared a dorm, Rose had always been a bit intimidated by the Chaser.

"I'm really looking forward to a few weeks of peace after this," Erin commented as the team mounted their brooms. "Miranda's been up way too late every night for the past few weeks going over plays in the dorm room."

The Bludgers and the Snitch were released, closely followed by the Quaffle, and the match began.

"And the first Quidditch match of the season is officially underway! Nice move there by Weasley to start things off as he dodges a well aimed bludger from Montague and passes to Robertson. Robertson weaves past Zabini and passes to Weasley. Weasley to Shepard, Shepard back to Robertson. She shoots, and TEN POINTS FOR GRYFFINDOR!"

The stands erupted in cheers as Mandy Jordan continued with her commentary.

"And now Malfoy takes off down the pitch with the Quaffle as Potter and Potter circle the air in search of the Snitch. Near miss there as Malfoy has to pull up to escape a nicely placed bludger from Turner but fantastic move as he dumps the Quaffle to Eddie Marsh. So slick I hardly even saw it happen! Marsh tosses it up ahead to a wide open Zabini who has Robertson right on his tail. She's nearly caught him but he shoots and BLOCKED BY WOOD!"

The Gryffindors cheered once again as Caleb passed the Quaffle to Miranda.

"This is a promising start!" Erin hollered over the cheering.

"Those Woods sure are good at Quidditch," Mandy continued. "But so is Malfoy and HE'S NICKED THE QUAFFLE FROM WEASLEY!" There was a loud cheer from the Slytherin stands and Rose held back a smile and a cheer for her friend. "He's dodging Bludgers left and right as Shepard closes in from the right. He passes to Zabini and shakes Shepard, looping around as Zabini tosses it back to him. Malfoy to Marsh - back to Malfoy. Malfoy in range and IT'S IN! TEN POINT TO SLYTHERIN!"

There was a loud cheer and Rose snuck in a clap for her friend. She'd openly cheered once before, and it had taken awhile for her housemates to let it go, so she'd tried to restrain herself since then.

The match continued much the same - both teams scoring and Shepard becoming increasingly aggressive. Eventually, Gryffindor pulled slightly ahead, even though Slytherin had taken more shots. It was all thanks to Caleb's superb keeping skills. Twenty minutes had passed and the score was seventy to fifty as Hugo and Bobby were yelling for a foul after Lily had nearly fallen off her broom thanks to a well placed bludger from Eric Nott at close range. They cheered as a whistle was blown and Gryffindor was awarded with a penalty shot.

"Hey, Erin," Jill called down from her seat in the row behind them. "I thought Alice was coming?"

A look of surprise crossed Erin's face and she searched the stands. "I almost forgot. She should be here by now."

"Reckon she chickened out again?" Rose asked as Johnny Slater blocked Louis' attempt.

"Probably. Want to go into Hogsmeade tomorrow and see her?"

Rose nodded as the game resumed. There were a few times that both Al and Lily looked like they'd spotted the Snitch, but the match continued until Gryffindor was up one hundred and thirty to eighty, and Rose scowled as Shepard flew towards Scorpius after scoring a goal.

Even from a distance, she could tell that he was heckling him. If Shepard circling around him wasn't enough, Scorpius' cold look was a dead give away as he took off down the pitch and caught the Quaffle from his cousin, quickly scoring and zipping back down the field, throwing a remark towards Shepard as he flew past. Shepard called for the Quaffle and took off down the pitch as Louis threw it his way, but Scorpius was one of the best defenders in the school, and he knocked the Quaffle away and into the waiting hands of Eddie Marsh. Rose imagined the sound of Shepard growling as he swung around and was quickly on Scorpius' tale. He caught him and bumped him subtly, but Scorpius sped up, catching a pass from Marsh and quickly flicking the Quaffle ahead to an open Zabini. As soon as the Quaffle had left his hands, Shepard took advantage of Scorpius' vulnerability and slammed into him - his elbow swinging up to connect with Scorpius' nose.

Not many people noticed what had happened as their eyes had followed the Quaffle. Half the stands cheered as Corbin snuck one past Caleb, but Rose stood and began to yell in outrage.

"YOU RUDDY BASTARD! THAT'S A FOUL!"

Erin, who had missed the exchange, looked at Rose in surprise as she continued to shout at the pitch. Rose was pointing at Scorpius to try and draw attention to what had happened, and Erin followed her gaze to see Scorpius holding what looked to be a bloody nose and hovering in mid air. More people began to catch on that something had happened, and the Slytherin's joined Rose in her screaming at the referee. Play continued despite their hollering, and Marsh flew towards Scorpius in concern, but he shook his head as he wiped his face with his arm before taking off down the pitch and towards Shepard, who was now in possession of the Quaffle.

"Is he bleeding? What the hell happened?" Erin asked as Rose continued to fume.

"SHEPARD! THAT'S WHAT BLOODY HAPPENED!"

She was starting to get strange looks from the people around her, and she took a steadying breath to calm down and resumed her seat as Scorpius swiped the Quaffle from Shepard once again.

"He took a fucking swing and elbowed him in the face. That's bloody uncalled for! He's just trying to get even!"

"Rose, you need to quiet down. People are listening." Erin said in an undertone. Rose let out a shaky breath and actually gave a cheer as Scorpius scored another goal. The score was now one hundred and thirty to one hundred, and Gryffindor was in possession once again.

"I really hope someone catches that Snitch soon, before he tries something else."

As soon as Rose said it, Al and Lily started streaking across the field, the older Potter just on the younger one's heels.

"And the Potters have seen the Snitch!" Mandy said. "Potter is right on Potter's tail and gaining! They're heading straight for the goal posts and WOW! Potter soars right past Wood and straight through the Gryffindor goalpost - Potter hot on her heels! They're now neck and neck as they loop around towards the other end of the field - reaching out, and it looks like … YES! POTTER'S GOT IT! POTTER GOT THE SNITCH! SLYTHERIN WINS!"

A loud cheer went up as many of the Gryffindors surrounding Rose let out curses and groans of disappointment. She restrained herself to a small clap for her cousin as his teammates swarmed him and they all sunk to the ground. She looked over to see Erin's eyes were lit up in excitement, even though she was forcing herself to scowl.

"It's okay to root for him, you know," Rose leaned in and whispered as the students began to make their way out of the stands. Some went down to join their friends on the pitch while others just headed up to the castle.

"Nope!" Erin insisted. "I don't think I can do it."

Rose laughed at her stubbornness and they headed down to the pitch. As they made their way towards the teams, they heard the sound of raised voices that definitely weren't shouts of celebration.

"We don't play dirty, Shepard! I don't care if you claim it was an accident, elbows don't go flying of their own accord, and you don't attack defenseless Chasers who aren't in possession!"

They pushed through the crowd to see Miranda Robertson in Shepard's face, pointing threateningly at him. He didn't seem all that fazed as he glared at Scorpius, who was celebrating with his teammates.

"Everyone back to the changing rooms. NOW!" she ordered when Shepard refused to move. Alec stepped forward and grabbed his arm but was quickly shook off. Rose let out a sigh of relief as he turned to leave with his teammates anyway.

"Good game, Miranda," Rose said as she and Erin passed. The captain gave her classmates a small smile before she followed her team and Rose dragged a reluctant Erin towards the Slytherins. Scorpius was now being attended to by Madam Pomfrey. His face was covered in smeared, dried blood, and it looked like his nose had been broken.

"This might hurt a bit, but it'll feel better quick enough," they heard the witch say as they walked up behind her. Scorpius braced himself as she flicked her wand. They heard a pop and his face scrunched up in pain as she handed him a damp cloth after mending his nose.

"Are you alright?" Rose asked, walking up next to him as he began cleaning the blood off his face. "I'm going to kill Shepard."

Scorpius looked down at her with a grin. "Maybe he'll think we're even now and leave me the hell alone."

He sounded like he was stuffed up, most likely because his nose was still swollen, even though it had been healed.

"You didn't notice the death glare he was just giving you?" Erin asked. Scorpius looked past them towards the still retreating Gryffindor team. He looked slightly worried before he shrugged it off.

"Whatever. I can handle him."

Rose sighed but decided it best not to say anymore about it. "You flew brilliantly, by the way."

He grinned down at her in pride. "Thanks. Caleb's brilliant, though. Can't believe that was his first match."

"You're forgetting who his dad is."

"And his mum," Al said as he came over. Rose hugged him in congratulations.

"That was brilliant, Al."

"Thanks. You alright, mate?" he asked Scorpius who nodded. "I was afraid Lily was actually going to beat me to it for a moment." said Al, looking down at the Snitch still clasped in his hand.

"I wish she had."

Al rolled his eyes at Erin before giving her a cocky grin. "Don't I get a hug from you too?"

He opened his arms and started slowly walking towards her.

"No, you pig," she said in disgust as she started to back away from him. "You're drenched in sweat."

"Come on, you know you want to."

"There's actually nothing I'd rather do less!" she argued. Al just laughed and quickly moved forward. Erin squealed in fright and turned to run, but Al was too fast and caught her easily enough, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind and lifting her off the ground.

"Put me down, you prat!" she yelled, kicking her feet. Al laughed and did as she asked. Erin quickly spun around and scowled at him, slapping him on the chest. He gave an exaggerated flinch and she rolled her eyes, huffing and turning to head back to the castle.

"Remind me not to congratulate you next time you succeed in life!" he hollered after her. She turned and walked backwards, sticking her tongue out and making a rude gesture before spinning back around and continuing towards the castle. Al laughed as he turned back to Rose and Scorpius, who had watched the whole thing with a mix of amusement and annoyance.

Al smirked at them both before simply saying, "She wants me," and heading towards the locker room with the rest of the team.

"I don't think I'll ever understand them," Rose said with a shake of her head.

"Do you want to?" Scorpius asked, picking up his broom. They began to walk towards the Slytherin changing rooms.

"Not really," Rose said with a chuckle. They walked in silence until they reached their destination. The pitch was almost deserted now, and Rose prepared to leave, but he stopped her.

"Listen," he began nervously, "there's a victory party in the Slytherin common room tonight. Any way you'd want to come?"

"Really?" she asked uncertainly. In all their years at Hogwarts, Scorpius had never invited her to the Slytherin common room.

"You could bring Erin, if you'd like," he said. "I just...thought you might like to come."

Rose hesitated. He seemed earnest and she could tell he really did want her to be there, but she wasn't sure if she should do it. Or if she could.

"Scor, it's not that I don't want to spend time with you, but I don't want to cause any trouble. You were there the last time I hung around a group of your housemates. It turned into an argument between us."

He grimaced and looked down at his feet, scuffing his boot against the turf. "But that was my fault, and I like to think I know better now."

She sighed and took a step closer, noticing he still had a bit of blood around his nose. He met her eyes and she saw only sincerity. "I know. But I like where things are right now, and I don't want to risk messing that up."

"Rose, if they're going to be a part of my life and you're going to be a part of my life, eventually things will have to change."

Rose knew he was right, but part of her still believed that some of the people he was choosing to spend more time around weren't there to stay. As much as she supported him, she didn't want to make things more complicated for Scorpius, and she wanted him to figure things out on his own, without her interference. She knew that wouldn't be the case if she got involved with them now.

"Maybe," she allowed. "Besides, you should be celebrating with your house. I doubt they want a couple of Gryffindors there."

He relented and nodded. "You're probably right. It's probably too soon, anyway."

They stood in uncomfortable silence for a moment, neither sure what to say next. She was relieved when he spoke again in a friendly tone.

"Fancy braving the House Elves and sneaking into the kitchens later? I'll try and drag Al away, and you and Erin can meet us."

"Sure," she said with a smile. "I'll probably spend the next few hours consoling Lily in our common room. She tends to hide away when they lose."

Scorpius chuckled as he turned to head into the locker room, but Rose caught him by the arm first. He looked at her in question before she pulled him into a hug. She let out a contented sigh as he held her tightly for a moment. He smelled of sweat and blood and dirt, but she found she didn't care.

"You really did play fantastic," she said before pulling away and stepping back. "See you around midnight?"

He nodded and gave her a smile, waving as she turned to walk back up to the castle.

* * *

Shepard hadn't tried to cause anymore trouble, but Scorpius still kept a close eye on him. They'd gone to McGonagall to tell her that he'd handed in his badge, and an understanding look crossed her face as she nodded before they could even attempt to come up with an explanation.

"I suspected it might all be too much for him this year," the Headmistress had said. "I suppose that's best. I'll let you know when I've made a choice on a replacement, though it might not be till next term."

Rose had filled Scorpius in on Shepard's disappearances from the school, and she concluded that whatever he was leaving the grounds for had to be something McGonagall was aware of.

Rose had also told Scorpius about what she thought she might like to do after Hogwarts, and he thought it was brilliant. Rose had always loved to read, and he'd seen enough of her homework to know she could write. He'd even passed on a number of his assignments to her so she could proof them. Just the way her eyes lit up when she talked about wanting to try and find a job with a publisher and maybe work as an editor made him excited for her. However, one of the reasons she'd told him was because she wasn't sure what to do about Ancient Runes.

"I asked my mum to look into it and she said most places require at least O.W.L. level and I never took it. Which I'm kicking myself for, by the way. Mum always told me I should take it."

"Why don't you talk to Professor Marks about a tutor? I'm sure he can recommend someone," he suggested as they worked on homework in their common room.

"Why don't you do it?" she asked.

"I don't think I'd have time with Quidditch," he said. "As much as I'd like to help you."

She nodded in understanding. "I'll talk to Professor Marks, then. I'd ask Erin to do it, but I can't see her having the patience to tutor anyone."

Scorpius gave an understanding chuckle. "I'd have to agree with you there. Come by and talk to him after class tomorrow. We'll walk to Muggle Studies together after."

She'd agreed, and he found her waiting outside of class for him the following day. He waved her into the classroom as the rest of the students left. Erin gave a look of surprise when she saw her, but Rose just told her she'd fill her in later.

"Professor Marks, this is Rose Weasley," Scorpius said as he walked her up to his Professor. He was a rather portly wizard with a long white mustache and not much other hair to speak of. His voice came out hoarse when he spoke.

"A pleasure, Miss Weasley. Mr. Malfoy here was singing your praises to me a few moments ago. What is it I can do for you?"

Rose glanced at Scorpius, and he gave her a nod of reassurance.

"Yes, Professor. You see, I've recently developed an interest in the publishing world, but most internships and entry level positions require at least an O.W.L. in Ancient Runes."

She paused and the professor just looked at her expectantly. Scorpius assumed that Rose's nerves stemmed from the fact that he held her possible future in his hands, rather than anything intimidating about his demeanor. She took a nervous gulp and continued.

"I was wondering if it would be possible to do some sort of independent study so I could maybe take the O.W.L. before I graduate."

The man's eyebrows rose in surprise. "That's quite a task, Miss Weasley. Would you be up to it? It would take a lot of work."

"I believe I am, Professor. I'm Head Girl and top of my class and this is something I really want."

He studied her for a moment before giving her a warm smile. "It just so happens I've heard some wonderful things about you, Miss Weasley. So I believe you."

Rose smiled with a sigh of relief, glancing at Scorpius who grinned back at her.

"However," Professor Marks continued, and Rose held her breath in anticipation. "I'll still need to check with Professor Longbottom. As your Head of House, he needs to sign off on this. But I'll start looking into finding you a tutor. I would say Mr. Malfoy could do it, but I think it would be best to have someone who recently completed their O.W.L.s helping you. Would you care if you were tutored by a sixth year?"

Rose shook her head, relieved that this all seemed like a real possibility.

"Good," he said, clapping his hands together. "I'll have Professor Longbottom get in touch with you once it's all straightened out. And I think you should start now rather than wait till next term. We will try to get this sorted by the end of the week."

Rose thanked him once again as he sent them on their way.

"Can you believe that, Scorp? This might actually work out!"

She was practically skipping down the hall as they made their way to Muggle Studies.

"I told you. You had nothing to worry about," he said with a smile.

"Do you have any of your old books? I could get a head start on the material. We didn't even talk about that. Do you think he has the books I need? I bet my mum does. I could ask her to send me them."

Scorpius chuckled at her. "I'm sure it'll all be fine. Just relax and enjoy the moment."

She took a deep breath and released it, grinning at him. "I can't believe we're so close to being done with Hogwarts. Less than eight months now."

"What did I just say about being in the moment?"

Rose gave a guilty grimace. "Sorry, I'll stop. I just keep thinking about how our lives are going to change," she continued anyway. "I'm going to hopefully find some job at a fancy publishing house, Al's going to face danger everyday, which I can't even pretend doesn't make me nervous. And you and Erin are going to pursue your dreams as well. We're growing up."

"I get it. The future's exciting. Can we not rush it?"

She grinned at him and they continued making their way to class, the hallways mostly deserted except for the random stragglers who were running late. Scorpius couldn't bring himself to care if they weren't on time for class. They had a good enough excuse. And he could never get tired of seeing Rose this happy.

"I'm sorry, I'm going to do it again," she said with an apologetic look. Scorpius sighed and signalled for her to continue with a resigned nod.

"I know you talked before about wanting to work with your dad, but is that really what you want to do?"

If he were honest, he really wasn't that surprised by the question. Scorpius was good at Potions, but he'd never shown a particular love or fascination for it. And his dad now owned a company that researched new methods to brew them, which was one of the more boring aspects of the field. Draco had always enjoyed it, though. He said that he was glad to have monotony in his life after the turmoil of his formative years. Scorpius had always just assumed he'd go to work for his dad, but he'd started to rethink that too over the past few months.

"I don't know," he said with a sigh. "Probably not. It's not that what Dad does isn't important in it's own way, but I can't help but have the feeling that I would be discontent doing research day in and day out. Like I should be doing more. I have opportunities he never did, and I don't take that for granted. "

They'd reached the classroom and stopped at the door. Their classmates were still pulling the chairs around to sit in a circle.

"If you ever want to talk about it…" she began.

"I know," he assured her. "I will."

Rose gave him a small smile and a nod before heading into the classroom. Scorpius actually had an idea about what he might like to do, but he hadn't spoken it aloud to anyone yet. He wasn't sure his father would like it, he knew his mother wouldn't, and part of him was even worried that Rose wouldn't be fully on board. He needed her to be. He needed her to support him and have faith in him, and he hadn't fully realized it until that moment. The moment when he wasn't sure she would.

* * *

 **A/N: It's Update Saturday! This was first time writing Quidditch and I was worried about it so let me know how I did! Your reviews really are appreciated. There were some new followers after the last chapter which is always exciting! I'd like to hear from you! Maybe tell me if there's a character or a relationship (whether friends or couples) you'd like to see more of, and I might be accommodating! Maybe an outtake from another POV? I already have one posted in "Snapshots of Faith" of Al and Erin and I have more of them written :)**

 **Happy Reading and REVIEW!**


	23. Try to see it my way

Rose and Erin's plans to visit Alice the day after the Quidditch match were sidetracked thanks to Erin's forgetfulness about an assignment they had due for Defense Against the Dark Arts the following day. She spent that Sunday in a rather frantic state that Rose left Al to deal with. This meant that, a week later, they were heading to Hogsmeade on a Saturday after Alice had once again failed to show up for dinner on Wednesday night. Scorpius and Al had decided against joining the girls in confronting Alice about her boy problems, which Rose and Erin were more than okay with, knowing they'd just make the job harder. They promised the boys they'd meet them downstairs in the pub when they were done talking to Alice.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Rose asked as they made their way up the outside steps that led to Alice's flat above the inn. "It isn't really any of our business."

"She's been dodging me for almost two weeks," Erin argued. "I at least want to make sure she's okay."

They had to knock twice before she actually answered her door.

"This is a surprise," Alice said as she let them in. "What brings you two here?"

Erin and Rose took in Alice's appearance. She had her hair tied up on the top of her head and was wearing a baggy jumper and cotton pants. She seemed rather agitated as she closed the door behind them.

"Are you feeling alright?" Erin asked as she took in her sister's extremely casual dress. She was normally very put together, even on the weekends. Alice waved her hand as if her appearance was no big deal.

"Absolutely. Would you like some tea?" She made her way to the kitchen, and Rose and Erin gave each other confused looks before following her, taking off their coats and going to hang them by the door. Rose did a double take and paused in mid air on her way to deposit hers on the rack. She reached out and grabbed Erin's arm, silently gesturing towards the man's coat that hung in front of them. Erin's eyes grew to a comical size as Alice hollered from the kitchen.

"Are you both alright with Earl Grey?"

"Fine!" Rose yelled back as Erin continued to stare at the article of clothing on the rack. Rose took her friend's coat and hung them both up before grabbing Erin's arm and pulling her towards the kitchen. Alice had her back to them as she continued to prepare the tea.

"We missed you at the Quidditch match," said Rose.

"Sorry about that," Alice apologized, glancing at them over her shoulder. "I had a barmaid quit on me last week so I've had to cover more than normal. It's why I haven't been able to make it to dinner either."

"That's too bad," said Rose as she moved to sit on a stool at the kitchen bar. Erin still seemed reluctant to do anything and kept glancing towards Alice's closed bedroom door.

"It's alright," said Alice. "I think I've found a replacement, so I should have more time on my hands soon."

Rose tugged on Erin's sleeve and she tuned back into the conversation, moving to sit next to Rose.

"So," Alice began as she placed cups of tea on the counter in front of the girls. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

Rose looked at Erin, thankful to see that she had found some composure by now.

"Actually, we wanted to ask you about something," Erin began, doing her best to act nonchalant.

"Alright," said Alice, looking uncertain but curious. "About what?"

Erin seemed to have no clue how to continue, so Rose jumped in.

"It's about you, actually. And technically not any of our business."

Alice's interest seemed to pique at this, but she also looked slightly nervous. Although, Rose reasoned, most people would when being told they're about to be asked personal questions.

"Alright. Do I have to promise to answer?"

"Well, we'd really like you to," Erin said with a shrug. "But I guess not."

Alice nodded, prepared to listen.

"It's about Professor Mac," Rose finally said.

Alice's eyebrows arched and something like fear showed up in her eyes, but she feigned indifference. "What about him?"

"Well…" Rose began, feeling uncertain about how to approach this.

"Rose saw you two together," Erin blurted out. "At the Halloween party."

A small amount of color appeared on Alice's cheeks, but she didn't betray anything otherwise.

"Yes, we spent time together at the party. Rose saw us talking on many occasions, I'm sure."

Erin smirked, and Rose watched Alice for her reaction. "She also saw you snogging him in the hallway."

Alice's jaw dropped and she covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes darting to Rose.

"I...I mean I…that was..."

When the girls just looked at her, unimpressed as she tried to come up with an excuse, Alice slouched against the counter in defeat.

"Merlin, I can't even deny that, can I?" Alice asked regretfully. Rose just shook her head and Alice sighed, turning back to her sister.

"I don't really want to talk about this."

Erin''s shoulders sagged in disappointment. "Come on, Alice. I'm your sister. If you can't talk to me about boys, who can you?"

Alice leaned forward and responded in a frustrated undertone. "It's complicated. You wouldn't understand."

"Maybe I would if you tried to explain and gave me a chance," Erin argued.

"Okay, maybe you would, but now really isn't the time to talk about this."

"Why?" Rose asked, pretty sure she knew why Alice was so agitated and why there was a man's coat hanging by the front door. Sure enough, Alice's eyes glanced towards her bedroom and a blush rose on her cheeks.

"I'm still figuring things out," said Alice. "You know this is difficult territory for me," she said to her sister. "I'll come to you when I'm ready, alright?"

"He's here right now, isn't he?" Erin challenged. "Did he spend the night?"

Alice's eyes widened in fear as her sister stood up. She quickly made her way around the counter and grabbed Erin's arm before she could move towards the bedroom.

"Of course he didn't spend the night. He just popped by unannounced this morning," she whispered. "I was trying to figure out how to get rid of him when you two showed up, so I just shoved him in the bedroom, which I'm now regretting since I realize I gave him access to my privacy."

Rose stood and moved next to Erin. "Why would you let us stay and make us tea if he's hiding in your bedroom?"

Erin rolled her eyes. "Nevermind that. Why were you trying to get rid of him?"

Alice looked between both girls and saw them watching her with curiosity and concern. She relaxed and gave a confused sigh. "I don't know. He's a nice bloke, isn't he?"

"He is," Rose assured her as Erin nodded. "He really is. I don't know everything you've been through, but I know it's hard for you to trust people. Especially men. But I don't think you'll regret it if you give this one a chance."

Alice still looked hesitant, but she had a bit of hope in her eyes as she nodded.

"We'll get out of your hair," said Erin, and she and Rose moved to grab their coats, leaving Alice standing in the middle of the room, her hands pushing back the hairs that had fallen out of her messy top knot as she contemplated her current situation. As they made to head out the door in the kitchen that led down to the pub, Alice thanked them for stopping by.

"No problem," Erin told her. "See you for dinner on Wednesday?" Alice nodded and gave her sister a grateful smile. A devious one graced Erin's lips as she made to give a final farewell.

"And see you in class, Professor Mac!"

They had a brief glimpse of the outrage on Alice's face before Rose grabbed Erin and bolted down the stairs, laughing as they went.

"I can't believe you did that," said Rose as they made their way out from behind the bar. Erin just laughed again.

"I couldn't help it. I can't wait to see his face in class on Tuesday. And I really think Alice is going to give him a chance!"

Rose rolled her eyes as they made their way across the pub and towards a booth in the back where Scorpius and Al were waiting for them, Erin unable to stop grinning.

"What's got you all cheerful?" Al asked as she slid in beside him. Erin just rested her elbow on the table and her chin in her hand, looking at Al with a sappy expression.

"Hi."

Rose restrained from laughing at her best friend as she sat next to Scorpius and Al's eyebrow rose in confusion.

"Hi…" he responded uncertainly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm just swell," said Erin, sitting up and leaning back against the booth, a far off look in her eyes. Al turned his inquisitive gaze towards Rose, who didn't really have an answer for him.

"I'm really not sure, but we just saw Alice and...well…"

To be honest, Rose wasn't entirely sure what was going through Erin's brain.

"I'm just happy for her," Erin said with a shrug, grabbing the pitcher of butterbeer that was on the table and pouring herself a glass. Al watched her with a funny look on his face before shaking his head in bemusement and going back to his own drink.

Ever since the four of them had met up in the kitchens after the Quidditch match, things had started to feel more like they used to. There were some changes, but no one was at odds with each other. Rose knew it might not stay that way for long - whatever game Al and Erin were playing was a guarantee that they wouldn't - but she was enjoying it for as long as she could. It made her smile to hear Erin make her usual complaint about how neither the castle nor the Three Broomsticks stocked her favorite type of tea, and to see Scorpius' eyes crinkle when he tried not to laugh, and to watch as Al ran his hands through his hair anytime he was complimented. Things might be different now, but they were all still the same.

"How's Ethan enjoying training?" Scorpius asked Erin. "Teddy wrote me and said he's top of the class."

"He's loving it," said Erin, smiling with pride. "He's been doing really well and said in his last letter that they're about to start shadowing Aurors in the field."

"Blimey, I can't wait," said Al, sounding jealous.

"Doesn't it make you nervous?" Rose asked Erin. "Knowing he could get hurt or worse any day?"

Erin shrugged. "I suppose it does sometimes. But I'm proud of him, you know? It's brave and selfless. I admire anyone who does it."

Al looked almost startled for a moment at Erin's words, but his expression changed to a grin as she noticed and asked him what was wrong.

"Nothing," he said, looking pleased as he poured himself another glass of butterbeer.

"My mum had a hard time of it when Dad was still an Auror," Rose explained, pulling Erin's attention away from Al. "I don't know if I can imagine going through that everyday. Not knowing if he's going to come home or not."

"Yeah, but," Scorpius began uncertainly. "Your dad was a brilliant Auror. She didn't have much to worry about."

"I suppose," Rose allowed, even though she knew that wasn't entirely true. "But you never really know, do you?"

Scorpius frowned and took a sip of his butterbeer.

"Don't worry, Rosie," Al assured his cousin. "My dad's brilliant and he trains everyone well. Not to mention the world isn't nearly as dangerous as it was two decades ago."

Rose had to admit he had a point. "I suppose so. I just like to have control over things too much to feel comfortable with risking your life everyday."

"It's not for everyone," Al agreed with an understanding nod. As they continued talking, Rose couldn't help but notice Scorpius seemed to be in his own head, even when he joined the conversation. Maybe he was worried about Al as well. She had faith that Al would be a brilliant Auror, but she was having trouble with the idea that the time was soon coming when they wouldn't have days like this anymore. Days with no troubles, no jobs to get back to, and no real concerns about the world.

* * *

After they'd spent some time in Hogsmeade, they all returned to the castle. Rose had plans to get a jumpstart on Ancient Runes research in the library, and Al and Erin disappeared before they could be asked where they were going. Scorpius made his way back to the Slytherin common room, opting to spend some time with his housemates before dinner. He found Riley and Corbin sitting on one of the couches by the fire.

"Scor, tell her I'm telling the truth" Corbin said to Scorpius when he joined them, sitting on the floor with his back to the flames.

"About what?" he asked with a resigned sigh. The amount those two bickered was enough to do his head in, and he wasn't in much of a mood to play mediator.

"About me snogging Elaine Goyle at the party last weekend."

Scorpius rolled his eyes as Riley just shook her head at him in annoyance.

"Hate to break it to you, mate, but you managed to land one sloppy drunk kiss on her before she practically threw you across the room. You didn't snog her."

Corbin looked at his cousin, complete betrayal written on his face. "What? That's not true."

"I believe that more than I believe you snogging one of the fittest girls in our house. Who happens to be a year above you." Riley gave a gravelly laugh, and Corbin scowled in embarrassment.

"Whatever. When was the last time you even snogged someone?"

She smirked at him and threw a quick glance at Scorpius. "I just so happen to have plans to pull your cousin into a broom closet later."

Even though he knew she was joking, Scorpius felt himself blush. Corbin didn't even look at Scorpius and continued to scowl at Riley.

"That would never happen," he said with determination. Riley just chuckled and leaned forward so her face was inches from Corbin's.

"Exactly," she whispered teasingly. Corbin gulped and watched as Riley let out a laugh and stood from the couch.

"I have to go see Professor Marks before dinner," she told Scorpius. "Apparently there's someone he'd like me to tutor."

She left without another word and Corbin remained pouting on the couch while Scorpius felt like he'd just had a cold bucket of water poured over his head. He turned to his cousin.

"Cor, is Riley good at Runes?"

Still pouting, Corbin shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, she wants to do archeological digs and curse breaking stuff after Hogwarts. She's got a real knack for them. Why?"

Scorpius held his head in his hands, running through this new information and the implications of what Riley had just said.

"Shit, this isn't good."

"What's got you all worked up?" Corbin asked. Scorpius rubbed his hands over his face and looked up at his cousin.

"Rose never took Ancient Runes."

"And?" Corbin asked "That matters because…?"

"Because now she thinks she wants to pursue a career in publishing and an O.W.L. in Runes is required. Professor Marks said he was going to try and find her a tutor so she could try and get one."

Corbin looked at him in confusion for a moment before it clicked.

"It might not be that bad, right?" he asked. "I know you and Rose are best friends, and you and Riley have gotten close. Would it be horrible if they got to know each other?"

"What if they hate each other, though?" Scorpius asked, trying not to panic. "Riley isn't Rose's biggest fan, and I don't think Rose is all that keen on Riley either."

Corbin seemed to mull it over for a moment before he shrugged in resignation. "Doesn't seem there's much you can do about it now. Just have to wait and see what happens. It might not be all that bad."

Scorpius wasn't quite sure he believed that. He and Rose seemed like they were finally getting somewhere, and it was somewhere he very much wanted to go. His relationship with Riley had never been anything more than friendship, but it still made him nervous to think that she could say or do something to make Rose think otherwise. What she'd just said to Corbin not moments ago was proof of that. And he wasn't even sure how Riley felt about him. She'd never really made a move, but that didn't mean she didn't want to. As much as he hated the stereotypes, Riley was a Slytherin through and through, and you could count on them to be cunning and ambitious.

* * *

"Miss Clarke? As in Riley Clarke?"

"That's right," said Professor Longbottom as Rose stood in his office on Sunday afternoon. "She's the best in her year and got an O on her O.W.L. last year. And your schedules line up perfectly. You're all set to start meeting on Tuesdays and Thursdays before your Muggle Studies class since you both have free periods then."

Rose gave a nervous gulp. She hadn't been expecting this, and she wasn't sure if she should do something to get out of it.

"You'll have an assignment due each week that your tutor will turn into Professor Marks so he can track your progress," her Professor continued. "Miss Clarke is already on board and he gave her the materials you'll need so she can give them to you when you meet in the Library."

"Oh," Rose said in surprise. "She's already said she'll do it?"

Neville nodded and signed a slip of paper. "I've got it on record that you're doing an independent study which will allow you to take the O.W.L. in the spring. Just need your signature right here."

Rose moved forward and signed under her professor. "Thank you, Professor. I really appreciate it."

"It's no trouble, Rose. We want our students to succeed and I admire your initiative. It's going to be a lot of hard work, but I have faith in your abilities. Just be sure and let me know if you ever feel like you're in over your head."

Rose thanked him once again and made her way towards the Great Hall for dinner. She quickly slid in next to Erin and whispered frantically in her ear. "Riley Clarke is my Runes tutor."

Erin abruptly stopped laughing at whatever it was Hugo had just said and looked at Rose in horror.

"Whose brilliant idea was that?" asked Erin, as if it were the most absurd thing she'd ever heard.

"Professor Marks, I suppose. But she agreed to it."

"I thought she hated you," Erin asked, absentmindedly stirring her soup with her spoon.

"I don't know about hate, but she's definitely not my biggest fan."

Rose had told Erin what she'd overheard Riley saying at the Halloween party, and she'd had to beg her friend not to hex the girl in the hallway.

"Maybe this is an opportunity to prove to her that you're not stuck up," Erin reasoned.

"But this is the worst situation to do that in because I _am_ stuck up when it comes to homework."

"You're uptight, not stuck up," Erin corrected her, blowing on her soup before eating a spoonful. "Does Scorpius know?"

"No clue," Rose said with a sigh. "I haven't really seen him today. I was in the library all morning and Al had them out on the pitch this afternoon."

"It's a Sunday and they don't play again till February."

"Try telling Al that."

Erin shook her head in disbelief at their friend's behavior. "What do you think Scor will say?"

Rose shrugged and shook her head, completely at a loss. "I really have no idea. Damn it, and I was so excited about this."

"You still can be," Erin assured her. "Maybe she'll be professional about it."

"I hope so."

Erin went back to her meal and Rose took in who was around them. It was a full house at the Gryffindor table as per usual on Sunday nights, and Al and Scorpius seemed to be the only ones missing.

"Caleb? Do you take Ancient Runes?" Rose asked, interrupting the conversation he was having with her brother.

He gave her a curious look. "Yeah, why?"

"How well do you know Riley Clarke?"

The sixth year shrugged. "Well enough. She's the best in the class and gets along with most people, but tends to stick to her housemates."

Rose nodded in contemplation. She didn't exactly have anything against Riley Clarke. Her opinion of the younger witch was just tainted by the fact that she felt like the girl had stolen her best friend from her for a time. It could turn out alright.

She was pulled from her musings by Al and Scorpius joining them, cleaned up after their Quidditch training.

"Did you know Riley Clarke's going to be my tutor?" she asked as soon as Scorpius sat next to her. He grimaced as he reached for the rolls.

"Yeah, I sort of figured it out last night."

Rose watched him for a moment as he dished food onto his plate.

"How do you feel about it?" she asked slowly. He looked at her in question, chewing through a mouthful of chicken.

"Fine, I suppose. How do you feel about it?"

She gave a noncommittal shrug. "Fine. Just didn't know if it would be awkward for you."

He took a swig of water and gave her a funny look. "Why would it be awkward for me?"

She watched him suspiciously. It seemed like he knew _exactly_ why it would be awkward for him, but was hesitant to admit it.

"Nevermind," she said with a sigh, turning to put food on her plate as well. "I just know you said it was maybe too soon for me to hang out with your friends."

"I only really said that because you seemed so reluctant to," he said, growing disgruntled.

"Well it seems like I don't have much of a choice now," she practically snapped at him. He stopped eating and looked at her. Rose could tell she was very close to offending him, which wasn't her intent at all.

"I was jealous, okay?" she admitted, watching as his expression changed from irked to incredulous. "You sort of abandoned me to hang out with her. It's still a sore spot, I guess."

"Rose, I'd never abandon you," said Scorpius, as if she sounded crazy for even thinking it. "And I don't want everything that happened to mess with your future. Corbin said she's brilliant at Ancient Runes so if she's your best chance, you should do it."

"I will," said Rose, turning back to her meal. "But I know she doesn't like me very much."

Scorpius didn't say anything, confirming the suspicions she already knew to be true.

"You don't need to be jealous. For any reason," he finally said, speaking so quietly no one else would be able to hear if they tried. She glanced at him and gave a small smile.

"I'll try not to be."

He seemed reasonably placated and went back to his meal. As dinner carried on around them and they joined the conversations their friends were having, Rose realized that at some point, Scorpius had moved closer, and his thigh was now thoroughly pressed against hers. It was a subtle reassurance, and she found she didn't mind having it at all.

* * *

 **A/N: So I have a Snapshot written of Alice and Malcolm, just so I could better write this end of things. I'm trying to decide whether or not to post it so if enough of you'd like to read it I will! Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter! How do you think tutoring will go? Reviews are the best and so are you!**

 **Happy Reading :)**


	24. Always time for a good conversation

"It's like she expects me to know everything already!" Rose said in indignation. "It's been two bloody weeks!"

She continued pacing back and forth in front of the fire.

"Rose, you're going to wear a hole in the rug," Lily said lazily. She didn't even look up from her book as she lounged on the couch in the Heads' common room. Rose stopped and turned to face her cousin, arms crossed and completely on edge.

"Will you please take this seriously," she snapped. Lily lazily looked up, reluctantly marking her spot and closing her book.

"I _am_ taking this seriously," she assured her. "But I think you're taking this _too_ seriously."

"I don't think that makes any sense," Rose said in confusion.

"Rose, you've never had to do this much work in such a short amount of time," Lily reasoned. "You might be brilliant, but you're learning a language. That doesn't just come naturally. It takes time."

Rose gave a huff of annoyance.

"She makes a good point."

"No one asked you," Rose snapped at Caleb, who raised his hands in innocence and went back to making a pot of tea.

"Don't be mean to us," Lily chastised her. "If you vent to us, expect to hear our opinions."

Rose moved to sit on the other end of the couch opposite her cousin. Lily had been ecstatic when Rose had given her the password to the common room, and Caleb had seemed pleased as well as taken aback. It had been a nice change to have two people around who didn't have a friendship as complicated as Al and Erin's. Rose _was_ thankful to have Lily there as well as Caleb. It was a refreshing change of pace.

"You're right. Sorry, I'm just frustrated."

Lily smirked and nudged her cousin with her foot. "You're forgiven. Is she really being that hard on you?"

Rose sighed and thought back over her study sessions. "Maybe not. It's just difficult because she knows this stuff so well and I have no point of reference. Most people who're tutored at least have a general understanding of the topic and just need help applying it. Even though I spent time studying in the library hoping to prepare, I mostly studied the history. I literally knew nothing about actual runes when we started which is frustrating for both of us."

"At least it's only a few more weeks till the holiday," Caleb encouraged as he handed her a mug of tea and sat on the floor in front of them. "You'll get a nice break from it all."

"Oh no, I won't be taking a break," Rose said with finality. "I plan to spend every spare minute I have with my head in a book memorizing runes."

"Rose you're in a wedding the week after Christmas," Lily reasoned. "I doubt that will be possible."

Rose gave a dramatic groan and collapsed back on the couch, taking a sip of her tea. "I forgot about that."

Lily chuckled. "Don't say that to Victoire. She wasn't too pleased when I wrote her just to double check what type of shoes she wanted us to wear. Of course she was mostly upset because I don't have shoes yet."

"Alright, even I have shoes and I hate shopping," Rose said in amusement. "And don't worry, I won't tell Vic I forgot about her wedding."

Rose really did find it hard to believe that it was already December, and it had been an interesting few weeks leading up to it. She was starting to develop an idea for her final Muggle Studies assignment, Al had turned eighteen, Hufflepuff had surprisingly beaten Ravenclaw in the most recent Quidditch match, and Professor Mac had been a little out of sorts. Of course, Erin and Rose had an idea as to why, but everyone else was left to wonder what had caused their beloved professor to have less of a spring in his step.

Erin was really starting to feel bad for him. Alice had come to dinner the past few weeks, but she'd done a splendid job of ignoring Malcolm Bray. She'd give a brief hello when she saw him, but would either quickly leave, or strike up a conversation with someone else nearby. The only thing Alice had said to Erin in explanation were two words: "We're friends."

"She said it as if it were no big deal," Erin told Rose in disbelief. "Completely ignoring what happened and that I have any clue about it. Maybe she just doesn't like him, which doesn't make sense to me 'cause I'm sorry but he's damn fit."

"Must you talk like this in front of me?" Hugo grumbled as they made their way through Hogsmeade. It was the last break before Christmas, and Hugo had insisted Rose help him find a gift for their mother.

"If you weren't such a procrastinator you wouldn't have to deal with us at all," Erin snapped.

"If you weren't such a gossip I wouldn't have to deal with this either," he bit back.

"Can you both please stop?" Rose requested with a resigned sigh. They both stuck their tongues out at each other as they entered Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop. Hugo wandered off to browse one side while Rose and Erin took the other.

"It's entirely possible they only met those two times we've observed them together, which means they really don't know each other that well," Rose reasoned. "But it didn't feel like that at the Halloween party. It felt like they were friends."

"Maybe he's been going down to the Three Broomsticks since we introduced them," Erin speculated. "I don't see my sister snogging someone she barely knows."

Hugo ended up picking a set of self-inking quills for his mother's Christmas gift after Rose talked him out of the color changing ones, which she didn't believe to be very practical. They wandered towards the Three Broomsticks, stopping at Honeydukes on the way to grab some of their Christmas themed treats.

Louis, Lucy, Charlotte, and Bobby were at one of the long tables in the middle of the room and they moved to join them, but not before having to dodge a rather eager looking Harrison Hughes, who seemed determined to catch Erin's attention.

"What's that all about?" Rose asked, trying not to laugh at Erin's panicky expression as they wound their way through the tables full of students.

"He's been like that ever since we did our project for Muggle Studies. I'm afraid he'll do something stupid if he corners me. Like ask me out."

Rose laughed as they reached the table that housed her cousins and their friends.

"Are we supposed to get gifts for Vic and Ted for the wedding?" Louis asked as they sat down. "Or is Charlotte trying to trick me into looking like an idiot?"

"I think we are," said Rose as she removed her scarf. "Although it might be a little different since you're her sibling. Maybe your family is giving them something."

Louis let out a huff in frustration. "I'm ready for this wedding shit to be over. It's all my mum will talk about in her letters. All I need to know is what I'll be wearing and where I need to be. I don't need to know the color of the seat cushions."

"She's just excited," said Lucy, patting his hand that rested on the table in sympathy. "She'll probably act the same way when you get married."

Louis nearly choked on his butterbeer at her comment. "Can we not talk about the possibility of that happening?"

"Mate," said Bobby with a resigned sigh, "it's happening."

"Aren't you excited to finally have a brother?" asked Erin. Louis gave a noncommittal shrug.

"It feels like he already is. It's all more of a formality than anything."

"I bet you'll feel differently the day of," Rose assured him, but Louis didn't seem to be bothered about it either way. He tended to act like things didn't matter that much to him, but most of them knew it was a front. He was a lot like Al in that way.

"Do you know what happened to Lily and Caleb?" Hugo asked his friends. The two people in question had been with Hugo and everyone else at the table when Rose and Erin had found him in the middle of town before they set off to do their shopping.

"Lucy and I had to go to Gladrags so we left after you lot did," said Charlotte.

"We went to Spintwitches since I needed a Christmas gift for Caleb, so we ditched him," said Louis, gesturing to himself and Bobby.

"Did she not have to go get shoes for the wedding?" Rose asked Lucy and Charlotte.

"No," said Charlotte with a shake of her head. "She said her mum found her a pair. I don't know what they ended up doing."

The mystery was solved only a few minutes later when they both showed up at the Three Broomsticks, shivering and red faced from the cold with Lily explaining they'd walked down to the Shrieking Shack.

Rose was quickly distracted and lost interest in the conversation going on around her when someone started whacking her on the arm. She looked at Erin to see her jerking her head towards their Muggle Studies professor, who entered the pub and walked up to the bar. Alice was behind it and hadn't noticed him yet. Rose and Erin had to practically turn around in their seats to watch and shushed their friends when they were asked what they were doing.

They watched as Alice started, nearly spilling the pitcher of butterbeer she was carrying when she saw him. She carefully set it down on the counter and gave him an embarrassed smile when he looked over at her. Nervously, she made her way to him, pulling out a glass tumbler and filling it with some type of whiskey without even asking.

"Looks like they're friendly enough for her to know his drink order," Erin mumbled, continuing to watch as her sister was pulled into a conversation with the professor. Their hopes started to rise as she laughed at something he said and he smiled at her, but their optimism was short lived as Alice quickly composed her expression and excused herself to walk back towards the kitchen. Malcolm visibly deflated as she closed the door behind her.

Rose and Erin turned back around, feeling disheartened.

"Is that what you two were going on about earlier?" Hugo said with a nod towards Professor Mac.

"Yes," said Erin with a sigh. "They'd be perfect together, and Alice is going to ruin it."

"Sounds like another oblivious pair I know," Lily mumbled into her butterbeer. Erin ignored her.

"How long has this been going on?" Charlotte asked, looking shocked. It was then that Rose remembered the Hufflepuff was Malcolm Bray's younger sister. Erin seemed to have only just recalled this detail as well.

"That's right!" she said in excitement. "He's your brother! Oh, this is brilliant."

"How so?" Rose asked skeptically. Erin looked at her as if it were obvious.

"She can help us! Spy from the other side. Get the details that it would be inappropriate for us to go digging for. She can find out if he really likes her!"

"Hold on," Charlotte insisted. "I hardly know what's going on. Can you explain before you sell my soul to snooping?"

Erin quickly filled Charlotte in on everything they knew so far about their respective older siblings. By the time Erin got to the end, Charlotte seemed skeptical.

"I don't know," she said uncertainly, twirling her long dark hair around her index finger. "It's not really our place is it? They can figure it out for themselves."

Erin rolled her eyes in annoyance, but Rose had anticipated this response. Charlotte always tried to avoid conflict of any kind when possible.

"He's coming over," Lily whispered, and sure enough, their professor was making his way towards them, his glass of whiskey in hand.

"I hope you lot are keeping out of trouble," he said good naturedly as he reached their table, coming up to stand behind his younger sister.

"I hope _you're_ keeping out of trouble," Charlotte said in an undertone. But he heard her, and his eyebrow shot up inquisitively.

"Watch the sass, Bray," he said with a smirk, reaching out to ruffle her hair. She batted his hands away with a chuckle.

"Hey, did you get Vic and Teddy a wedding gift?" Louis asked their professor.

"Yeah, I actually sent away for something last week."

Louis groaned and buried his head in his hands. "So being a groomsman won't get me out of it then either."

"You're in the wedding?" Erin asked in surprise. Malcolm nodded, but avoided meeting Erin's gaze. He'd tried very hard over the past few weeks to not let Erin and Rose's knowledge of his complicated relationship with Alice affect how he behaved towards them, but there were subtle differences - like his current refusal to look at Erin - that gave him away.

"Teddy and I go way back," he said to the table at large. "We were prefects together and I spent the last few years working for the Muggle Liaison office with Vic so we've seen each other a lot. I get together with him and his squad partner whenever I can get away from the castle."

"Interesting," Erin said, resting her elbow on the table and her head in her hand, enjoying watching him squirm. "Rose and Lily are in the wedding as well."

"I'm aware," he said with a smile at both girls. "Should be a good time."

"Am I going to have to call you 'Professor' all weekend?" Louis asked. "That'll feel a little odd at the stag night."

Bray chuckled and addressed the whole table. "I give you all permission to call me by my first name during the holidays."

Malcolm bid them farewell and walked back to the bar, downing the rest of his drink before depositing the glass on the counter. He hesitated for a moment, looking back towards the kitchen, but Alice hadn't reappeared. They saw him heave a resigned sigh before heading back out into the lightly falling snow.

"I figured you were going to tell him Alice is in the wedding," Rose commented to Erin as conversation about plans for the holidays carried on around them.

"If she hasn't told him herself, I kind of want to see what happens." Erin smirked and Charlotte just shook her head.

"While I approve of you not meddling, I'm still not sure this is a good plan."

"Oh, come on, Bray," Erin teased. "Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Off somewhere else and not interested in getting involved in my brother's relationship," she deadpanned.

Erin just waved her off and they dropped the subject entirely. Al and Scorpius joined them a few moments later, having come from doing some last minute gift shopping of their own.

"What did you get me?" Erin asked gleefully as Al sat beside her. He just rolled his eyes as he grabbed the pitcher of butterbeer and poured himself a glass.

"Who said I got you anything?" he teased. She responded probably exactly the way he wanted her to when her jaw dropped in outrage.

"If that's true, I'll return your gift. And you'll be really sorry I did that. It's a good one."

She gave him a challenging look and he rolled his eyes at her once again. "More treacle fudge, I'm assuming?"

"No," she sassily responded. " _Way_ better than treacle fudge. And we all know how much you _love_ treacle fudge."

Rose almost felt uncomfortable with the somewhat seductive way Erin had said that. The squirming that Scorpius was doing in his seat confirmed she wasn't the only one. Al, however, seemed unfazed and simply leaned back in his chair, putting his arm on the back of hers and sipping his butterbeer.

"Fine," he said. "I did get you something. But no way in hell I'm telling you what it is."

Erin gave a small pout, but it was mixed with an amused smile as she sat back in her seat. Rose looked on in astonishment as Al started absentmindedly playing with the ends of Erin's hair. She shared a glance with Scorpius and he just shrugged, not having a clue what was going on either. Rose looked at Erin, trying to catch her eye, but she was avoiding Rose's gaze as she began asking Scorpius how his shopping had gone.

Seeing as Al and Erin hadn't exactly been shy about their habit of snogging each other for the sake of it, it shouldn't have been much of a surprise to see them acting...well...couple-like. But it just wasn't something they did. They'd even toned it down the last month to the point where they didn't ever carry on in front of other people. Rose had always been thankful for that. She'd been able to pretend that - except for the unfortunate occasions that she barged in on them - nothing was going on between her cousin and best friend. Had something changed and she wasn't aware of it? Part of her wanted to put them on the spot and just ask, but she knew Erin would hate that, no matter what understanding they might now have.

The rest of their group started leaving in shifts until it was just the four of them, and Rose tried to let herself ignore whatever was happening across the table.

"How's tutoring, Rose?"

She was pulled from her thoughts by Scorpius' question and she let out a groan of displeasure.

"It could be better," she said. "I'm having a hard time staying on top of all of it with everything else I still have to get done. I've barely had a moment to breath. And this is one of the only times we've all been together this week," she pointed out in disappointment. "I've probably been unpleasant to be with."

"Nonsense," Erin assured her. "We're supportive of your dream so we'll endure some crankiness if it's what you want."

Rose gave her friend an annoyed look as Erin just grinned innocently at her.

"Thanks. Anyway," she continued, addressing Scorpius. "Riley really knows what she's talking about so I suppose it's the best situation I could be in. Even if she's not the friendliest of people."

Scorpius chuckled. "She does have some hard edges, but she's softening them up. Told me the other day that you're actually catching on faster than she expected."

Rose's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? She hasn't said anything like that to me."

"She doesn't really know you yet," Scorpius said with a shrug. "She a tougher nut to crack than you are. Don't expect a compliment unless you do something exceptional. At least for now."

Rose nodded in understanding. She wasn't as jealous of Clarke as she had been before, but she still had her guard up around her. It was hard for Rose to see the person Scorpius saw, but maybe he had a point. If she let her guard down just a bit, maybe her tutor would do the same and this whole thing would be a bit less painful. Neither girl had ever mentioned Scorpius, and Rose was afraid to. She couldn't help but feel insecure around the girl who was actually very pretty and had an attractive confidence to her. Rose really didn't want to be prejudiced against her, and she wasn't, but there was still that bitterness buried deep down that stemmed from the fact that Scorpius had risked ruining his friendship with her to pursue one with Clarke.

* * *

"Mate, what's going on?"

Al just looked at Scorpius in confusion. It was a few days after their weekend in Hogsmeade, and they were putting up their brooms after a thankfully less grueling practice than usual.

"I just figured with break coming up, we could all use a fun practice rather than a painful one."

"That's not what I'm talking about," Scorpius clarified as Al locked the broom cabinet that was down by the pitch. Scorpius had already changed along with the rest of the team while Al packed up the gear. Their teammates had gone back up to the castle, so it was just the two of them now, and it was the first time he'd gotten Al alone since they'd spent time shopping in Hogsmeade.

"What's going on with you and Erin?"

Al gave a sigh and an impatient look. "Are you ever going to let this go?"

"Not until you lot figure your shit out," Scorpius responded, falling in step beside Al as they made their way back to the changing room. "Besides, I'm mostly bringing it up because Rose asked me to," he clarified, hoping to keep the brunt of Al's displeasure aimed away from himself.

"Why am I not surprised?" Al grumbled as he made his way towards his locker, pulling off his practice jersey. "Can't you two just let us figure this out on our own?"

"You know," Scorpius began. "Sometimes it actually helps to talk through things."

Al scoffed as he pulled on a clean jumper. "When do you ever talk things through? I'll take your advice when you take it yourself."

Scorpius felt himself growing annoyed as he sat on one of the benches. "I talk about things."

"Yeah?" Al challenged. "With who?"

"With Rose," said Scorpius, looking smug. Al just let out a bark of disbelieving laughter.

"Right. 'Cause you've _actually_ told her you fancy her."

Scorpius was struck silent as he willed his face not to turn red. "Who says I fancy Rose?" he eventually forced out, hoping he sounded surprised by the suggestion. Al just gave a look that showed he wasn't going to be fooled.

"I'm not blind, Scor. And I think I know you pretty well."

He didn't know what to say to that, and sat quietly in contemplation as Al pulled on his coat.

"If I hadn't known before, the look on your face when I asked you who Rose fancied when we were at dinner the other night was a dead give away."

Scorpius gave a less than pleased look as Al smirked. Burying his face in his hands, Scorpius let out a grunt of frustration.

"I'm okay with it, you know."

Scorpius looked up at his best friend in surprise as Al moved towards the door. He stood to follow, quickly throwing on his own coat. They left the changing room and began the walk up to the castle.

"I take it you haven't said anything to her yet?" Al pushed. Scorpius sighed and shook his head.

"I almost did. The night of the Halloween party? I think she would've said something herself if I hadn't told her not to. I just don't think I'm ready to talk about it yet. To anyone."

Al didn't speak for a moment, and Scorpius was surprised by the vulnerability that laced his words when he finally did. "Not so easy, is it?"

Scorpius took in the unease that covered Al's face, but he remained silent. He could read his best friend well enough to know if he gave him time, he'd get whatever was bothering him off his chest.

"Things sort of...shifted the other day," he finally forced out. Scorpius looked at him curiously.

"How so?"

Al gave an uncertain shrug. "It's hard to explain."

Scorpius just watched him expectantly until Al finally glanced over and rolled his eyes at his friend's eager expression.

"I don't want to get into all the feelings shit, so let's just say that if the opportunity ever came for us to be more than we are right now, I'd sure as hell be okay with it."

"Good to know," Scorpius said with a pleased grin. Al looked uncomfortable but braced himself to continue.

"You remember when we were talking about how Ethan's an Auror?"

Scorpius nodded. He remembered that conversation in the Three Broomsticks all too well.

"Well..." Al began hesitantly, "I've always been sort of aware of the fact that I'm going into a profession that's not exactly laid back, and how it could affect the people around me. You heard what Rose said; even Aunt Hermione had a rough time with it. I know I might be getting ahead of myself, but this is something I've wanted to do for a long time, and it's about to become a reality very soon, and I don't want to get into anything with someone if they won't be able to handle it."

Scorpius understood that. More than Al probably realised. But he just nodded in response.

"Anyway," Al continued with a sigh. "After what Erin said about how much she admires anyone who does it and how she's handled it so brilliantly with her brother, I guess I got a little carried away."

Unsure what he meant by that, Scorpius hesitantly asked, "How so?"

A tell-tale blush started to make its way up Al's cheeks as they stopped at the oak front doors.

"It was just… different, and… well, we usually just joke around when we're… yeah." He cleared his throat nervously. "Keep it light and not too serious. It's easy to be that way with her, and we don't ever really talk about anything important. But we sort of did. And it was sort of amazing."

Scorpius grinned at the disappointed look on Al's face. "And you're upset about that because…?"

Al groaned and rubbed his hands over his face. "I keep telling myself that whatever it is we're doing is no big deal, but one of the only reasons I haven't grown a pair and actually talked to her about all of this is because I'm still worried about her."

It all started making sense to Scorpius. As far as either of them were aware, Erin still hadn't fully dealt with her grandmother's death. While it was true that her overall demeanor seemed improved, they had no way of knowing if she was still just burying it all and refusing to deal with the pain.

"I think she's doing better, but I don't want her to focus her emotional energy on us when it needs to be elsewhere."

"And snogging her and most likely confusing her to no end is the perfect solution?" Scorpius asked uncertainly. Al grimaced.

"I'm a little in over my head."

Scorpius chuckled, clapping his friend on Al's shoulder. "It's alright. I have complete faith in you to be able to fix this."

"That makes one of us," Al grumbled as he turned to walk inside. "And don't think you've gotten out of spilling your guts to me as well. If I have to do this, so do you."

Scorpius threw his head back and groaned. "I'm not looking forward to that at all."

Al chuckled. "Don't worry. It's not as painful as it sounds."

Scorpius just shook his head with a slight grin, but decided to take the opportunity to at least get one thing off his chest.

"Hey, Al?"

Al stopped in the middle of the entrance hall and turned to his friend expectantly. Scorpius shoved his hands in his pockets and took a deep breath to try and calm his nerves.

"You alright?" Al asked when he noticed his agitated state. Scorpius nodded, nervously looking around and rubbing the back of his neck.

"You know how I've always just talked about going into business with my dad?"

"Yeah," Al said with a curious nod.

"Well," Scorpius continued. "It's not really what I want to do anymore. In fact, it hasn't been what I want to do for a while now."

Al folded his arms over his chest and studied his friend closely. "Why haven't you ever said anything?"

"I haven't said anything to my dad yet," he said, shrugging helplessly. "I only just told Rose a few weeks ago."

Al nodded. "Alright, I'm guessing there's more to this?"

"That's the part I haven't actually told anyone yet."

Al's eyes widened in surprise. "What is it?"

Scorpius took a deep breath. Once he said something to Al, he wouldn't be able to back out. Sure, he could always change his mind, but he didn't want to, and having someone else who knew would make it a lot harder to do so.

"I'm applying to the Auror Academy."

* * *

 **A/N: I'm a day late, I know. Hopefully it was worth it! Reviews are like little drops of sunshine and we could all use more of that :)**

 **Happy Reading!**


	25. There's a calm before the storm

"Would it be incredibly sappy if I chose 'Love' as my theme?" Rose asked Erin as they sat in the Library. Their copies of _Les Miserables_ were open in front of them and the summaries they'd written throughout the term were strewn across the table.

"Love doesn't have to be sappy," Erin reasoned. "It can be bloody awful."

Rose let out a snort of laughter. "I suppose so. And this has some pretty powerful examples of that being true. What are you going to do?"

Erin scanned over one of her most recent essays, her lips pursed in concentration. "I was thinking 'Justice,' but don't really want to do something too boring."

"That sounds fascinating, actually," said Rose, impressed that she'd come up with that. Erin wasn't an idiot, but she worked better with basic facts and information rather than trying to draw ideas from things. It's why she had difficulty when it came to studying theory. Unless it was Potions, for some reason.

"Alright, then. You'll do 'Love,' I'll do 'Justice,' and any clue what anyone else is doing?"

"No, but hopefully they'll figure it out soon."

Erin nodded, continuing to pour over her notes. They'd been studying together for close to an hour now and there were only less than three weeks left of term. Rose had already had her topic in mind, but she wanted to be sure she had enough material to cover it. She'd finally come to the conclusion that she did and felt a rush of excitement when she pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment, beginning to write her introduction.

"Hey, do you have a second?"

Rose glanced up from the table in annoyance, but found she wasn't the one being interrupted. Al had slid into the seat beside Erin, who was now looking at him expectantly as he spoke to her in a quiet tone.

"I need to run this to the Owlery," he brandished a letter, "and then I'm meeting with Simpson about some application stuff. Can I leave this with you so I don't have to haul it around the castle?"

He indicated the bag that was slung over his shoulder. Erin nodded and gave him a small smile. "Sure. You coming back here before dinner?"

"Yeah, I need to get started on all of this." He waved his hand over the table in reference to all the work the girls were doing. "But you're a lifesaver. Thanks."

He slipped his bag off his shoulder and dropped it under the table. Standing up, he reached down and gripped her hand, placing a swift peck on the top of her head before hurrying out of the library. Rose stared at Erin, astounded by what she'd just seen, as her friend went back to her homework.

"I'm sorry, but, what the hell was that?"

Erin looked up at Rose in question, seeming unfazed by what had just happened. "What the hell was what?"

"Whatever just happened between you and my cousin," Rose insisted. "If I didn't know any better, I'd call you two a couple. Did I miss something? Are you actually together now?"

Erin sighed and set down the parchment she'd been reading. "No, we're not."

Rose just looked at her, needing more of an explanation and forcing herself not to beg for one.

"Basically," Erin continued, "for the past few weeks, he's pretty much been acting like we're together, except we're not. And there's actually been a lack of snogging rather than an increase."

"What?" Rose asked in confusion. Erin rubbed her hand over her face and took a deep breath, releasing it with a sound of frustration.

"I don't know," she said in exasperation. "I really don't know what's going through his head."

"How come I didn't notice this before?" Rose asked, amazed that she hadn't managed to see what had been happening the past few weeks. Erin gave her a sympathetic smile.

"You've been so busy. What with your Ancient Runes work and all the Head Girl duties. I'm not surprised it's taken you this long. You said so yourself the other day - we've barely all spent time together."

It was hard for Rose not to feel guilty, but she could tell Erin understood that she had a lot on her plate. So she pushed it down and didn't let it eat at her.

"What changed, then?"

Erin looked like she desperately wanted to have an answer to this question but wasn't sure she did. "I mean, it's been all physical between us, you know?"

Rose gave her an uncomfortable look and Erin grimaced. "Sorry. You probably don't want to hear that. Anyway, a couple weeks ago, after we went to Hogsmeade and talked to Alice about Professor Mac?"

Rose nodded, remembering the day but not thinking there was anything particularly special about what had gone on after their encounter with Erin's sister. She did remember that her friend and cousin had disappeared almost as soon as they'd reentered the castle.

"Well," Erin continued, "we went off alone like we usually do, but it was different this time."

"How so?" Rose asked.

"He's never shown much emotion," Erin explained. "Not the softer ones. You know how Al is. He hides deep beneath the surface and you basically have to plan an archaeological dig to get anything out of him."

Rose chuckled in agreement at the image Erin painted.

"But it was almost like emotions were pouring out of him. Not that he was crying or anything. It was more like he…"

Confliction was showing itself in Erin's eyes as she paused and looked at Rose uncertainly.

"Like he what?" Rose asked softly. Erin seemed to shake whatever she was feeling and shrugged, picking up one of her essays again.

"I'm not going to get ahead of myself," she said resolutely. "He's had plenty of opportunities to actually tell me how he feels the last few weeks, and he hasn't, so I must have misread everything."

"But even I've noticed he's acting different. And you haven't said anything to him either," Rose couldn't help but point out. Erin's face scrunched up in concentration as her eyes roamed over her essay, expertly ignoring Rose. She was as stubborn and obstinate as ever. The analogy of having to plan an archeological dig could just as easily be applied to Erin.

"Fine," Rose said with a resigned sigh, returning to her own work. "Do whatever the hell you want. But you'll never get anything out of life if you're determined to let your fears control you."

It was probably a combination of the harsh truth and the small bit of hurt that had slipped into Rose's words, but Erin stilled and subtly looked over at her friend.

"I'm planning on giving him the book for Christmas," she said quietly.

Rose remembered back to the conversation they'd had about the gift Erin had refrained from giving Al for his birthday. It was thoughtful and showed how well she knew him, and Rose knew Al would love it. It was also Erin's way of telling Rose, and possibly even Al if he got the hint, just how much she cared about him. And that she was finally willing to open the door for something more, even if that door being slammed back in her face was a real possibility. She was ready to try.

* * *

"You don't have to stick up for your girlfriend, Malfoy. I'm treating her just as fairly as I would anyone else."

Scorpius blushed in embarrassment over Riley's admonishing. "She's not my girlfriend. And I know I don't need to, and that's not what I was trying to do."

"Oh really?" she said, clearly unimpressed with his denial. "So you going on and on about how brilliant she is and how busy she happens to be and how much you admire her hard work isn't your subtle way of making sure I'm not too hard on her?"

Scorpius scowled in annoyance. "Fine. Maybe I'm trying to nudge you a bit."

She smirked at him. "Thanks for owning it. And I'm just doing my job. If she chooses to gripe about it, that's her problem."

"She's not griping about it," Scorpius insisted. "I can just tell she's tired and I figured it wouldn't hurt to drop a hint or two that she's running a little ragged. The crazy witch is probably skipping dinner right now to study in the library."

"Would she appreciate you butting in?" Riley challenged. It took every ounce of his civilized upbringing not to simultaneously scowl, stick out his tongue, and flip her off due to her smug expression. She knew she had him there.

"I'll leave it alone," he grumbled, turning back to his lunch. He heard his cousin chortle from across the table and glanced up at him.

"You're smitten, aren't you?" Corbin said with a teasing grin. Scorpius rolled his eyes and went back to his dinner, but he was soon interrupted once again by the presence of Albus Potter. He slid in next to Scorpius, who gave him a funny look when he sat closer than Scorpius thought necessary.

"Can I help you?" Scorpius asked with a confused tone. Al spoke quietly as he began to assemble his dinner.

"I met with Simpson."

That was enough to get his attention.

"And?"

"And he gave me the applications. You just have to get your sixth year transcripts from him to send with it. He gave me mine, but he's not allowed to give me yours."

Scorpius nodded in understanding. "When do we have to send them in?"

"By the end of January. But I already knew that."

"Right," said Scorpius, trying to wrap his head around the fact that he was actually going to do this. His nerves were on end. He wanted this. And it wasn't about any sense of having to prove himself or some debt he thought his family owed. He genuinely thought he'd be able to do it. It had been reassuring when, rather than think he was crazy, Al had been more than supportive of his ambition.

"We could be partners!" he'd said in excitement. "I mean, we'd have to pass the compatibility training, but I can see that going well."

"But I have to get in first," Scorpius had reminded his friend, who didn't think his argument held any weight.

"Please, you're brilliant. No way you won't."

But Scorpius wasn't sure. He knew people were no longer as prejudiced as they used to be, and Al's dad pulled a lot of weight in the Auror Department, but there was always the possibility that someone could go out of their way to make sure this didn't happen for him. He wasn't blind to the fact that his family had made mistakes, but he hoped and prayed that no one would prevent him from doing his part to make the world a safer and better place purely out of spite.

"When are you filling yours out?" Scorpius asked, still speaking in an undertone. Riley and Corbin were bickering about something and not paying attention to them, but Scorpius didn't want to run the risk of being overheard. He wasn't really ready to share this information with more people than he had to at the moment.

"I have to get started on Muggle Studies otherwise I'd want to do it tonight," Al said as he began digging into a plate full of roasted chicken and potatoes. "Want to head to the library after this?" he somehow asked through his mouthful of food. "I was planning to go before dinner but Simpson talked my ear off. The girls are already in there."

"Yeah I noticed they haven't even shown up for dinner," Scorpius commented. "Should we take them something?"

Al nodded, downing a glass of pumpkin juice before quickly finishing his meal and loading another plate with rolls, and a second with what looked like half a chicken, scooping some potatoes onto it as well.

"Grab that pitcher," he told Scorpius nodding towards the pumpkin juice sitting in front of him. Scorpius barely had a moment to argue before Al stood from the table with a plate in each hand. Quickly shoving one last roll into his mouth, Scorpius slung his bag over his shoulder, grabbed the pitcher, and hurried after his friend.

"Are we even allowed to do this?" Scorpius asked as he caught up with him. Al shrugged.

"Not sure. But you're Head Boy so that should cover our asses, right?"

Scorpius gave a sceptical chuckle. "I'm pretty sure I could still get in trouble if I break the rules badly enough. Miller lost his badge when we were in fourth year, remember?"

"That was for being caught shagging his girlfriend in broom cupboards one too many times. I doubt stealing chicken warrants any disciplinary action," Al teased. Scorpius just laughed as they made their way towards the library, suddenly feeling uncertain.

"Don't say anything, by the way. About the applications."

Al looked at him in confusion. "Why?"

"Because I haven't told Rose yet."

"Is there a reason for that?"

Scorpius let out a sigh, wishing he had the courage to just tell her. But he wasn't ready yet. And explaining that to Al meant being even more vulnerable than he already had been by opening up about wanting to be an Auror.

"Don't take the mick, alright?" Scorpius asked. Al stopped and turned to face him at the sincerity in his voice.

"I won't. What's up?"

Scorpius grimaced. "You remember what you said about being an Auror, and not wanting to be with someone who couldn't handle it?"

Al nodded, still confused with where his friend was going.

"And do you remember what Rose said in the Three Broomsticks when we were talking about you being an Auror?"

This time, Al nodded in understanding. "You're worried she won't be able to handle it."

It wasn't even phrased as a question, but Scorpius nodded. "Is it silly that I'm more nervous about that than I am about actually getting in?"

Al chuckled good naturedly as they continued towards the library. "I get it. But I think you should tell her."

"Why?" Scorpius asked in surprise. "You know how she is. She'll overreact, say something without thinking it through, and then we'll be back where we were at the start of term; arguing because she can't support me."

"Mate, come on. Give her more credit than that," Al reasoned. "Even if she's been prone to react like that in the past, she's always done nothing but have your back and you know it. I don't see how this will be any different."

"I guess so," he allowed, but another nagging thought wouldn't go away. "Will I sound like a total sap if I admit that I'm terrified she'll never want to be with me now?"

Scorpius braced himself for Al's response, knowing this was the first time he'd actually admitted he wanted to be with Rose. But Al surprised him by giving a frustrated sigh, stopping as they reached the entrance to the library. "No, but you do sound like a prat."

Scorpius' brow rose in shock.

"Do you really have such little faith in Rose that you think she'd be that weak?" Al questioned. "Maybe she doesn't think she can handle it right now, but I'm willing to bet she'd do anything for you. You have no idea if she'll be able to handle it or not so stop assuming she won't. I don't pretend to know exactly what you two have, but I know you can damn well count on Rose Weasley being strong in the face of whatever life throws at her. Even if it happens to be something as seemingly inconsequential as the bloke she cares about doubting her."

Scorpius was speechless as Al practically scowled at him. He knew his friend was right, but that didn't mean it completely squashed his insecurities, and it irritated him that Al was being somewhat hypocritical.

"Yet you can't count on Erin to handle her emotions if you tell her how you feel?"

"Shut up," he grumbled. "That's none of your business."

"And this is your business?"

"You're the one who brought it up! And don't think for a second that Rose won't be pissed when she realizes you chose to hide this from her because you didn't think she could handle it," Al said in indignation. When Scorpius didn't say anything in return, Al let out an annoyed huff and walked into the library, Scorpius right behind him.

The girls were back in a corner by the Charms section, completely immersed in their studies. Al set the food in the middle of the table and they both started, taking a moment to come out of their study induced hazes.

"What time is it?" Rose asked as Scorpius set down the pitcher.

"Half past six," he answered, sliding into the chair beside her as Al did the same next to Erin.

"This looks heavenly," Erin said in gratitude as she started pulling apart a roll, Rose conjuring some cups for the pumpkin juice. "You're both brilliant."

"We completely lost track of time," Rose said in astonishment as she began to move some of her work off to the side so she wouldn't drop any food on it. "Did you two eat or are we splitting this four ways?"

There was no response as Rose leaned forward to snag a drumstick. Both girls didn't notice at first, too consumed by their meal, but when neither of the boys spoke up and continued to either scowl or gaze off into the distance, it caught their attention. Erin looked at Rose in question, but she just shrugged, equally as confused as her friend.

"Are you two alright?" Erin finally asked. It was enough to get Al to relax a fraction as he met Erin's concerned expression.

"I'm brilliant," he said, sitting forward to grab the pitcher of pumpkin juice and pouring cups for himself and Erin. He placed it back in the center of the table, turning his still somewhat hard gaze towards Scorpius as he sat back, draped his arm around the back of Erin's chair, and took a sip of his drink.

"Scor?"

He practically jumped when Rose reached out and rested her hand on his shoulder, causing her to quickly withdraw it. Scorpius looked at her guiltily when he saw the worry on her face.

"I'm fine," he assured her, moving to mimic Al's movements and pouring himself and Rose their own glasses of juice. He was in the middle of doing so when Al broke the uncomfortable silence.

"I care about her," he said with conviction. "I just don't want to see her get hurt."

The girls just watched the boys in silence as Scorpius returned Al's stare, waiting to set the pitcher down and hand Rose her drink before responding. He knew Al could be talking about either of the girls that were currently listening in on their conversation, and he realized that maybe he was.

"You realize you're getting on my case for having the same fears you do, right?"

Al glanced down for a second, his hand that was resting on the back of Erin's chair gripping it momentarily before his eyes met his friend's once again.

"I know. But it's different."

As much as Scorpius wanted to argue that it wasn't, he knew it was. Al had first and foremost wanted to be an Auror. It was never news he had to break to someone, so it wasn't like Erin didn't know what she was getting herself into. But Rose would be completely blindsided.

"Just think about what I said, alright?" Al requested sincerely, but still with a hard edge in his voice. He'd always been protective of Rose, and even though Scorpius knew he wouldn't have a problem with the two of them being together, he'd have Rose's back no matter what.

"Alright," he agreed. Al nodded in appreciation and began pulling out his homework from his bag, Scorpius following suit. It was as he was trying to organize all of his essays from Muggle Studies that he realized the girls were both still staring at them in stunned silence. Erin seemed convinced they'd gone insane, and Rose was holding a chicken leg in midair.

"Oh, right," Scorpius said, remembering Rose's earlier question. "We've already eaten."

He went back to his work and saw Rose's hand that was still holding the food drop to the table out of the corner of his eye. He glanced at her in question and took in her stunned expression.

"Are we missing something?" Erin piped up from across the table, drawing everyone's attention to her. "You two never row. Who did what to whom and who're you talking about?"

Albus gave her a look of annoyance, turning back to his work. "Has anyone ever told you how nosey you are?"

She just looked at him, completely unfazed. "Yes. Now answer the question."

Al gave a resigned sigh and set down his quill that he'd been using to underline parts of his essay. He turned to face her and draped his left arm across the back of her chair once again. "If I kissed you, would that shut you up?"

Erin tried and failed to hide a pleased smirk. "Nope," she responded, a challenging look in her eyes. She probably assumed he was just going to kiss her anyway. Scorpius found himself working very hard to contain a grin as Al responded.

"No point, then." He gave an indifferent shrug and turned back to his work, but kept his arm on the back of her chair. It had the desired effect as Erin's jaw dropped in shock and she was rendered speechless. Scorpius was just thankful that his friends antics had distracted Rose and she was now shaking her head and continuing with her meal. She gave Scorpius a look as if to say "what are we going to do with them?"

He just grinned and went back to his homework, trying to ignore Erin's continued attempts to get Al to talk. Scorpius was successful until he heard Erin give a muffled shriek. He let out a laugh when he looked up to find Erin sitting there with her arms crossed and brow furrowed. Al had used the arm that was on the back of her chair to come around and cover her mouth with his hand as he continued to peruse his essays.

"Lick and bite all you want," he said lazily. "It's not going to help."

Erin let out a sigh and looked at Rose for help, but she was ignoring them much better than Scorpius was. Erin made an attempt to pull his arm away, but that was futile as well. She stilled and let out what sounded like a 'please,' turning slightly to look at Al, who's arm just curled around with her. He just grinned and continued with his work as she watched him with a pitiful look on her face, until he stilled and a look of surprise crossed his features for a moment before he composed himself and looked up at her with a smirk.

"Kissing won't help either."

Erin let out a huff, glaring at him. He just smiled back. "I'd tell you what we were talking about, I swear," he assured her in a whisper. "But it's not entirely up to me."

Scorpius quickly looked back down at his work, hoping Erin didn't catch him watching them. She must have nodded or assured him in some way that she understood, because he heard her speak a few moments later, asking if Al had picked a theme for his essay yet. Scorpius let out a sigh of relief, grateful Al hadn't said anything more revealing. Then again, their conversation had turned out to be just as much about him as it had about Scorpius towards the end so he probably wouldn't have told Erin _everything_.

Scorpius went back to his homework but soon felt a pair of eyes on him. Glancing towards his left, he saw Rose watching him curiously. He fully turned his head to look at her.

"Everything alright?" she mouthed to him, looking concerned. He gave her a small smile and nodded. When she still looked uncertain, he mouthed, "Later," back to her. Although how much later, he still wasn't certain. He knew he should tell her soon, but things were finally going well, and he didn't want to do anything to screw that up. The realities of the real world had waited long enough. They could wait a little longer.

* * *

 **A/N: Just in time! Happy Saturday Update :)**

 **I realized after I wrote this that this entire chapter takes place in one afternoon. Some of the most important conversations happen in every day life, and I hope I was able to portray that well. Hope you enjoyed them! All of your reviews made me so happy last time, and inspired a bit of a writing spree. So by all means, keep that up!**

 **Happy Reading :)**


	26. I'm not so self assured

"This isn't bad, Weasley," Riley said with a somewhat impressed look.

"Really?" Rose asked, surprised by the positive response. Riley just nodded as she continued to look over Rose's most recent assignment. She made a small mark before placing it aside to hand in to Professor Marks.

"You've basically done everything we covered during first term of third year. If not more so. Pretty impressive for only one month of work."

"Are you complimenting me?" Rose asked doubtfully. Riley sighed and began flipping through the textbook to where they'd last left off.

"Think of it more along the lines of affirmation than a compliment."

"I can accept that," Rose said with a nod.

This was the most they'd talked about anything that wasn't strictly the course material, and Rose had been subtly looking for an opening to maybe let the walls down a little bit more. More for Scorpius' sake than her own. Although, it wouldn't hurt if she wasn't on edge during most of her tutoring sessions.

It wasn't that she was scared of Riley, it was more her determined need for people to like and approve of her. She knew it shouldn't be that important to her, and it probably wouldn't have been if it weren't for everything she had wrapped up in her brain that seemed to be entangled with the idea of Riley Clarke.

Rose saw a lot of herself in the sixth year Slytherin, but everything was much more clearly defined. Riley was a brilliant student, but unlike Rose, she'd found what she was passionate about early enough in life to actually have a fair shot at doing it. She spoke her mind to a fault, while Rose knew there were countless times in her own life where she regretted not doing so, despite her desire to always be honest. And Riley was noticed for who she was. The same might be true for Rose, but the shadow of her family would always be there, hanging over her. Rose also knew enough about people to know that there was definitely more to Riley than what was on the surface.

Her tutor was sorting through some runes charts when Rose decided to take a tiny leap.

"What are your plans for the holidays?"

Riley stilled in her shuffling of parchments and looked up at Rose warily. "Is there a reason you're asking?" she inquired. Rose decided to play it nonchalant for now.

"No, just figured I'd ask," she said with a disinterested shrug. "We've spent enough time together for it to be a natural question by this point."

She distracted herself by looking over the notes she'd compiled while studying throughout the week. If Riley wanted to try and actually be on friendly terms, this was her moment. Rose wasn't sure she was going to have the courage to try again.

"I'm visiting my uncle."

Rose's eyes snapped up to see Riley continuing to flip through the book, showing no sign of friendship outside of her words.

"He lives in the states," she continued, grabbing a quill and a blank piece of parchment, jotting down some runes that Rose knew would eventually be slid across the table for her to identify and translate.

"I've never been to the states," Rose said casually. "What's it like?"

Riley gave a nonchalant shrug, not answering till she finished copying down the exercise from the textbook. She slid it over to Rose and looked up at her.

"Probably depends on where you go. My uncle works as an electrician in Ohio so it's not that exciting."

She tried very hard to hide her surprise, but Rose couldn't help looking at Riley in shock. "Your uncle's a Muggle?"

Riley gave a simple nod and didn't elaborate, so Rose turned her attention to the parchment she'd been given.

"Not everyone in Slytherin is pureblood, you know," said Riley, a slight edge to her voice. Rose looked up at her uncertainly.

"I know that," she assured her. "I never said otherwise."

Riley gave an unimpressed look and slouched back in her seat. "Just seemed surprised is all. Maybe you're more prejudiced than you think."

"You know my mum is Muggle-born, right?" Rose asked doubtfully.

"I'm not talking about that," Riley said with a roll of her eyes. "I'm talking about your opinions of Slytherins in general."

Rose wasn't sure what to do with that statement. She wanted to say she had nothing against Slytherins, and maybe she didn't. But she knew her actions might have portrayed a contrasting opinion. It wasn't hard to miss that Riley wasn't Rose's biggest fan because of the recent difficulties in her relationship with Scorpius, but she wasn't going to go there with her. Riley didn't have a right to be privy to that relationship.

"I don't want you to think that my judgment on anyone has anything to do with what house they're in," she began calmly. "I try to only judge based on actions."

Riley gave Rose a calculating look. "Why judge at all?"

Rose let out a huff and sat back in her chair. "Come on, Clarke. We all do it. I judge you, you judge me. We all judge each other. At least I don't do it blindly or out of spite."

"Are you saying I do?" Riley challenged, though her tone seemed bored.

"Are you saying you don't?"

Rose refused to break eye contact, even though she was somewhat terrified by what she was doing. Riley studied Rose for a moment, a smirk growing on her face.

"You think I misjudged you a bit. That's what you're getting at. Want me to apologize for it?"

"No," Rose said with a resigned sigh. She wasn't sure if this conversation was actually getting them anywhere. They were talking too much around the issues, but she still didn't want to dive into those. "I'm not digging for anything. And I didn't even plan to talk about this."

Hoping to avoid an argument, Rose continued to work through the runes exercise. Riley went back to preparing more work for her, and they continued in silence for half an hour, only talking when Rose had a question about the work or Riley needed to instruct her on something new. But their conversation continued to eat at Rose, as much as she tried to just let it go.

"Two of my best friends are Slytherins," she said suddenly. Riley just stared blankly at her while she continued. "I've never held it against them. I know you think I'm a bitch because of however you assume I treated Scorpius, but you don't know the whole story. Even though it's none of your business, the reason Scorpius and I had a falling out was mostly because of my insecurities that happened to involve people in your house. I take full responsibility for that, and he takes responsibility for his mistakes too. He's forgiven me and that should be more than enough for you."

Something akin to guilt seemed to grow in Riley's eyes, her expression softening slightly before she assumed an indifferent expression.

"You're right. It is none of my business. So why tell me all that?"

Rose sighed and set down her quill. "I think because I know he appreciates your friendship, and even if it made me jealous and insecure, I do respect the fact that you were his friend when I did a poor job of being one."

Riley smirked, but it was the closest thing Rose had seen to her actually smiling. "He wouldn't shut up about you," she said. "All those weeks you weren't talking? It was amazing how much you just naturally came up in conversation."

Rose's eyes widened in shock and maybe even a little fear.

"He didn't talk to me about your issues," Riley said with a roll of her eyes. "It was more the type of thing that happens when someone is so deeply ingrained in your life. They're in every story and happy memory. I could tell right away how much he cared about you. I guess that's why I never tried anything."

Rose couldn't help but feel skeptical. "Really?"

"I'm not a conniving bitch, Weasley," she said flatly.

"No, it's just that, I assumed..." Rose tried to clarify. "He's never said anything, but I'd always wondered if you two…"

Riley shook her head, leaning forward and resting her arms on the table, looking at her intently. "It's pretty obvious you care about him. I'd like to advise you to not screw that up."

Rose looked intently at the girl in front of her, slightly irritated that she was advising her in regards to her relationship with her best friend, but deciding it best to let go of her pride. "I won't. He's too important to me."

Riley gave her another smirk. "I believe you."

They went back to their work, and Rose felt the insecurities she'd been carrying around for the past few months start to slip away. The tense feeling she usually had in Riley's presence was disappearing as well. She'd caught a glimpse of the actual person that was Riley Clarke, and it was becoming easier to not compare herself to the younger girl. Perhaps it hadn't been the smoothest conversation, but it was a start.

Rose headed to Muggle Studies a short while later, looking forward to her last lesson in the class before term ended. Her final assignment was all set to be handed in, and she didn't think she'd ever felt more confident in her work. She'd loved pouring over the story and diving into what it all meant and how it could relate to her life. It had actually proved more difficult than she'd anticipated to choose the topic of love. She'd been able to pull from the lives of people around her, but finding comparisons in her own life had been difficult and something of an emotional journey. She was still processing all of it, and the only reason she was nervous about her essay was because of how vulnerable she'd been.

When she reached the classroom, the chairs were already set in a circle, and Scorpius was doing some last minute reading of his assignment. She sat beside him, and he gave her a quick smile in greeting before reading the last few sentences of his essay.

"How'd it turn out?" she asked once he'd finished. He let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair.

"I finished it late last night, so I'm just hoping it all makes sense."

"I thought you'd finished it before dinner?" she asked, remembering him saying something to that affect the evening before.

"I had a moment of inspiration," he said, rubbing his tired eyes. "I hadn't really come up with a solid comparison, but then Al said something about my mum and how she makes the best trifle, and I told him it was actually a recipe from my dad's mum, and it reminded me."

Rose blinked at him, completely lost when he didn't continue and trying to come up with how that related to the theme he'd chosen. "What's trifle got to do with Redemption?"

"It's not the trifle," he said with an amused chuckle that turned into a yawn. "It made me think of my grandmother. What she did during the war and how she'd made all these horrible decisions up until that point. Maybe she just lied to Voldemort to save her son's life and not for some big redemptive purpose, but it led her down that path. I ended up rewriting a majority of it."

Rose gave him an impressed look as Professor Mac began to move around the class that was now full of students, collecting their assignments.

"Since you all did so well on the first big assignment and you've shown a solid understanding of the material throughout the term," he said, "I expect to have some excellent reading material during the holidays."

He set the collected essays on the desk and turned back to the class.

"This is the last lesson we will have on this topic. I've thoroughly enjoyed delving into this fantastic piece of literature with you. I hope you've all been able to form a better perspective on what it means to not just be a Muggle or a wizard, but what it means to be a human. Who can tell me what surprised them most? What did you learn that you didn't expect to?"

A few different people shared their perspectives. Angie Archer had covered the theme of Injustice and used the history of the House Elves in comparison. Harrison Hughes, in contrast, had done Justice, like Erin had, and talked about a few different instances of Death Eater trials, among other things. Rose thoroughly enjoyed watching Erin not exactly argue with the Hufflepuff, but they'd gone back and forth for a bit when Erin had challenged what point the book was trying to make on the subject, with Harrison hanging intently on her every word.

The overwhelming consensus, though, was that no matter what they came across in their reading, they could always manage to find some example of it in their own world. Alec Turner had even been bold enough to say that he hadn't been sure that was going to be the case when the term started.

"And now you see the whole point," Malcolm said with a smile. "I know you're not all a bunch of prejudiced witches and wizards, but it's always a humbling experience to be reminded of all the things we deal with in life that can't simply be fixed by magic. Did anyone choose to write on Prejudice?"

No one raised their hand for a moment, but Rose grinned when Al finally did.

"Anything you'd like to share?" their professor asked, seeming pleased with Al already.

"Well," he began, a contemplative look crossing his features. "It was interesting because there's the parts that are easy to see: Jean Valjean only being seen for his criminal acts and not being allowed to show that he'd changed; everything that Fantine goes through and why she's treated the way she is. It's obvious in those instances. But then there's the subtleties. It runs throughout the whole thing and sort of takes on a mind of its own. I guess I got a little more into the basic idea of judging before you know all the facts, but there's still a sense of prejudice in that. It happens all the time. Way more often than it should. Our world is certainly no exception to that rule."

There was a melancholy silence in the room as Professor Bray nodded. "' _Let us never fear robbers nor murderers'_ ," he quoted. "' _Those are dangers from without. Let us fear ourselves. Prejudices are the real robbers; vices are the real murderers. The great dangers lie within ourselves'._ " He gave Al a small smile. "Very good, Mr. Potter. Now, anyone cover Mercy?"

The class continued on, and Rose couldn't help but notice the somber attitude of one of her classmates. Devon Shepard had been that way ever since his encounter with Scorpius in the hall, and he hadn't shown any type of aggression since the Quidditch match. She'd taken to mostly ignoring him, and not even on purpose. He'd just drifted into the back of her mind. The only reason she noticed him today was because he was casting shifty glances her way, and she realized half of them were directed at Scorpius, who hadn't noticed that he had the attention of the Gryffindor.

As they were dismissed, Rose watched Shepard remain in his seat, subtly observing them. Erin, who was sitting next to Rose, noticed her unease and tried to ask what was wrong, but Rose shushed her. She was hyper aware of what was happening around her as Al walked over to them and stood in front of Scorpius, who was packing up his bag. They struck up a conversation about some sort of plans they had for the weekend before they all headed home.

Rose held her breath as Devon Shepard stood from his seat and waited for most of the other students to file out of the room before he slowly made his way over to them. Rose stood, Erin doing the same. She heard Scorpius laugh at something Al had said, and she placed her hand on his shoulder. Shepard was standing almost directly in front of them now, looking uncertainly between herself and Scorpius, who had turned to look up at Rose in question before he noticed their company.

Scorpius stood, and Rose rolled her eyes as he took a slight step in front of her as if to block her from Shepard's view. She grabbed his arm and moved to his side. Al had turned around as well and was facing Shepard from the side, his arms folded as he glared at the Gryffindor's profile. Rose felt Erin slip behind her and move over to Al, most likely standing nearby incase she needed to restrain him.

"Something you wanted, Shepard?" Scorpius asked calmly, still watching him with trepidation.

"Yeah, actually," said Shepard, speaking in a much more agreeable tone than Rose could ever remember hearing from him. All the other students were gone, but they heard a noise from the front of the classroom and looked to see Professor Mac leaning back against his desk with his arms crossed, watching closely. Devon cleared his throat and looked Scorpius directly in the eye.

"I just wanted to apologize. I know I've been a prick for what appears to be no good reason, and I shouldn't have taken my issues out on you."

Most of them just stared at him in disbelief, but Scorpius gave him a calculating look. "Care to fill me in on why you chose to treat me the way you did? I don't see you bad mouthing other purebloods."

It appeared Shepard didn't want to have to explain himself, and the familiar anger he'd been carrying lately threatened to spill back out, but he took a deep breath to steady himself.

"I'd rather not get into the details, but I suppose you sort of deserve to know. Professor Mac knows and I'm okay with him filling you in," he said with a look at his professor, who nodded in agreement. "Just accept my apology and we can move past this. I know I don't deserve it, but I'd appreciate it if you could try."

There was a tense moment as Shepard stuck out his hand for Scorpius to shake, and the Slytherin just looked at it for a few seconds before meeting Shepard's eye again.

"That simple, eh?"

Shepard gave a shrug in resignation, his arm still extended. "It's the best I can do for now."

Scorpius spared him one more calculating look before he slowly moved forward and grasped the Gryffindor's hand in a firm shake. Shepard seemed to relax marginally, and something close to a smile crossed his features. He shoved his hands in his pockets and gave Scorpius a nod.

"You're alright, Malfoy."

He walked out of the classroom, only sparing Rose an apologetic glance, which she thought she might have returned with a forgiving smile. They stood there in silence for a moment, no one knowing what to say in response to what had just happened. Scorpius sighed and relaxed his shoulders, which had grown tense the moment he'd seen Shepard. Erin, Al, and Rose were all watching him closely as Professor Mac approached them.

"He's had a rough term," he told them, coming to stand where Shepard had been. "I sort of ended up taking him under my wing the past few weeks, and he's been able to work through some of it. I'm sure you're aware he's Muggle-born?"

They all nodded in affirmation. "Well," the professor continued. "His sister's been sick for a long time. Are you familiar with the Muggle disease called ALS?"

They all shook their heads and he continued. "It stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It's a disease that affects the nervous system to the point where all your muscles eventually stop working and it kills you. Devon's little sister has it, and she doesn't have much time left."

Rose practically collapsed down into her chair, overcome with sorrow for her classmate as she felt a lump rise in her throat, but she still didn't fully understand.

"That's horrible," Erin said softly, her eyes looking watery. "But what does that have to do with Scorpius?"

Professor Mac took a deep breath before continuing. "When Devon got his Hogwarts letter, his father looked into getting his daughter magical medical treatment, but it's illegal to admit Muggles unless it's for a magical related malady. We can't just go around curing Muggle diseases when there aren't ones for them in the Muggle world. It's against the Statue of Secrecy. Anyway, Devon's dad did everything he could to find something to help her, and this past year, he ended up connected with some wizards who were selling potions on the black market that they claimed would heal her. They did nothing to help, and actually sped up the progress of the disease."

He paused here and looked at Scorpius uncertainly. "The potion was an altered version of one that's meant to mend tissue. Almost like dittany but taken orally and more potent. And they were originally made by your father's company."

All color drained from Scorpius face and he limply sat down in the seat next to Rose.

"It's not your fault, Scorpius," Professor Mac assured him. "Nor is it your father's. He was unaware of his potions being altered and used in that way. Apparently this underground potions ring is more rampant than anyone fully knew. The Ministry only became aware of the magnitude of it this summer."

Memories of her mum coming home later than normal and running herself ragged flashed into Rose's mind. If this criminal activity had become apparent over the summer, it certainly explained her mother's behavior.

"Shepard's just a scared boy who's terrified to lose his sister, and he couldn't see the fairness in being unable to help her just because of the family she was born into and her lack of magical ability. You were connected in his mind to everything he was going through. You were just the easiest thing for him to take his grief out on."

Scorpius rubbed his hands together in an agitated manner, looking down at the floor. "That doesn't make any of this right."

He glanced up at his professor, who just looked at him in sympathy. "I know. If you need to talk, you know where to find me, alright?"

Scorpius nodded in thanks, rising from his seat and grabbing his bag. Rose stood with him, and the four of them made their way out of the classroom.

"Blimey," said Al, breaking the tense silence as they made their way through the castle. "I never would have guessed there was actually a bruised and battered soul behind that beastly attitude he always puts on."

Scorpius gave a snort of hollow laughter. "If there's one thing this class has taught me, it's that there's a hell of a lot more to people than meets the eye."

There was silence once again, and Rose wasn't even sure where they were heading. She just followed Scorpius as he kept a steady pace through the corridors. The desire to say something to him and maybe get him to talk about how everything they just learned was affecting him was strong, but she could also tell from the stern look he wore that he was still processing. Rose saw this going one of two ways: either Scorpius would let it all go and move on, or he'd be so frustrated by how he'd been treated so unfairly, that he'd spiral into a melancholy state of confusion and uncertainty once again.

She could hear Al and Erin talking in the background, and she kept glancing at Scorpius, unsure of what to say. He finally caught her looking and sent her what was meant to be a reassuring smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"I'm alright," he said in an undertone. "It's just a lot to process."

She nodded in understanding, moving to stand a little closer to him as they walked, bumping her arm up against his in an attempt to be comforting. He smiled, even though he didn't look at her this time.

"So, speaking of Shepard, I think it's my turn to take his shift tomorrow night," she said, trying to come off as lighthearted as possible.

"You sure?" he asked. "It's the last night of term and all."

"And?"

"And maybe you want to have a little fun for a change," he teased. She rolled her eyes and nudged him with her elbow.

"You know I don't like parties. It'll be fine," she assured him. "I'll have plenty of time to let loose and relax over the holidays. I think there are going to be more parties than normal this year."

"Ah, yes. We've got a wedding and everything that goes with it on top of everything else," he said in amusement. "I can't tell if I'm looking forward to it or not."

Rose chuckled. "It'll be great. My family will probably drive me mad, but isn't that half the fun?"

He nodded in agreement, a small smile on his face.

"Any plans for your night of freedom?" Rose asked. He shook his head.

"I'll probably just read. Keep out of trouble."

Rose laughed. "Cause you're _such_ a troublemaker."

Rose was rewarded for her efforts with a small laugh. His spirits seemed to have been lifted, and Rose found they'd made their way to the joint common room. They still had a few more assignments to finish up and exams to revise for before tomorrow, so they quickly got to work, some more reluctantly than others as Al began to complain about the History of Magic final he still had to take.

Rose was looking forward to going home more than she usually was. It had been an exhausting term, and she could hardly believe how much had happened in such a short period of time. Creating some distance from all of that would be refreshing. A break would be most welcomed. Tomorrow couldn't come quickly enough.

* * *

It had been a last minute decision to join the party. Rose had gone to do rounds, and at first, he actually had just sat reading in the Heads' common room. But that had turned into contemplating the bombshell that had been dropped on him the day before, which turned into brooding and sulking.

Scorpius just couldn't understand. Having the knowledge that Shepard's treatment of him wasn't personal, and really had nothing to do with who he was as a person, should have brought relief. Maybe even a sense of closure. All it had done was frustrate him more. Because, in a way, it _was_ personal. He had been singled out because of his family and there was no getting around that. Maybe it hadn't been because his father was a reformed Death Eater, but that didn't seem to matter.

Scorpius was also trying not to beat himself up over the fact that he had worked with his father all summer, right when the Ministry became aware of the situation. He remembered his dad going to a few meetings in London and being a little more stressed than normal, but he hadn't even thought to ask questions. He'd already decided he didn't really want to work with his father once he was out of school, so he hadn't really cared. This was what he had been dealing with?

He couldn't make sense of it all in his head, and he felt overwhelmed with stress and anxiety. He had absolutely no control over any of it anymore. There was nothing he could do to fix the situation, and no matter how he looked at it, it didn't seem to matter whether or not he'd ever done anything right at all. Scorpius had done his best to prove that his family wasn't what it used to be; he'd worked hard and kept his nose clean and this was all it got him? Being treated like he was scum anyway?

He couldn't see how there was any possible way that was fair. He'd spent all term trying to figure out who he actually was because of the opinion of someone who barely even knew him, and it turned out none of his words ever had anything to do with Scorpius in the first place. None of it, anything he'd done, seemed to matter now.

Which might have been why he found himself in the Slytherin common room, nursing a glass of firewhiskey to try and calm the whirring of his mind and dull the feeling of hopelessness.

"You ready for this, Malfoy?" Prince asked as he approached him. Scorpius arched an eyebrow at him in question.

"This," said Prince, gesturing to the party that hadn't quite fallen into complete debauchery yet, "is your moment. Corbin and Eddie have volunteered to go with you. You'll just need to change into something more stealth oriented, but then you'll be good to go."

"Wait," said Scorpius, setting down his glass on the windowsill he'd been leaning against, turning to face Prince with his arms crossed. "Are you telling me that you want me to do the Hogsmeade run?"

"Fuck yeah!" Prince said enthusiastically. "I told you the end of term party would be a good time to officially initiate you."

Scorpius looked at him like he was crazy. "I'm Head Boy, Prince. I can't do a bloody Hogsmeade run. It'll probably cost me my badge if I get caught sneaky out. Not to mention stealing."

"Malfoy, come on," said Prince with a roll of his eyes. "You sure you're even a Slytherin? Daddy would be ashamed."

The comment had Scorpius clenching his jaw in an attempt to not respond. Prince was always goading him with comments like that, and there were times when it had worked. It didn't even have to do with what his father had done during his years at Hogwarts. He knew that Prince's goal was to get him to embrace his Slytherin by convincing him his actions would make his father proud.

"Live a little," said Prince when Scorpius held his tongue. "Go with your instincts."

Scorpius scoffed. Instincts. He really didn't have a good reason to trust those right now. They had led him to distancing himself from his friends. They had led him to deciding to alter his course and become an Auror; a path he wasn't even sure made sense anymore and would pretty much guarantee him losing any type of possible future with Rose. Those instincts had led him to forgive Devon Shepard - a decision he wasn't too keen on at the moment. And now, all of his instincts were telling him this was a bad idea. But when was the last time those served him well?

"Fine," he said with forced determination. "Let's get this over with. Before I change my mind."

* * *

The last night of term had always been the worst night to patrol. Students didn't seem to care as much for the rules when they'd be leaving the next day. Rose had caught at least half a dozen students either trying to sneak off somewhere, or already in a secluded area. Normally, prefect partners patrolled together, but she'd foreseen the amount of students they were likely to have to bust. She'd sent Mandy Jordan, who was Shepard's patrol partner, to patrol the upper floors while she took the lower. The Hufflepuff had told Rose and Scorpius awhile back that she'd only ever covered for Devon as a favor to Alec.

"He didn't tell me details on why Devon keeps having to go home on weekends," she'd explained a few weeks back. "But I could tell it was serious. And Alec's always been a good bloke so I figured it would be safe to trust him. Sorry if I made things worse."

They'd assured her it wasn't her fault and she wasn't going to get in trouble, but that she needed to come to them next time those sort of things happened.

Rose enjoyed the peace of walking the corridors by herself. Due to the amount of students she'd caught, it had taken longer than normal, but it was still relatively early in the evening - only around ten o'clock - as she started to make her way down towards the entrance hall. She stopped and reflexively pulled her wand when she heard footsteps. Turning towards the direction of the sound, she relaxed when she caught sight of Malcolm Bray.

"Professor Mac?" she said, catching his attention. He glanced behind him and then back to Rose as he approached her, coming from the direction of the oak front doors.

"Rounds?" he asked as she met him at the bottom of the stairs. She nodded, tucking her wand in the back pocket of her jeans. "Have all rules been forgotten tonight?" He gestured towards her Muggle attire.

"Not completely," she said with a chuckle. "Since I can't join any of the celebrations tonight, I figured I'd find some way to let loose."

He gave her a small smile in appreciation, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Aren't you supposed to have a partner?" he asked, noticing she was alone.

"Normally, yes. But I figured divide and conquer would be the way to go tonight. You wouldn't believe how many people I've busted already."

He nodded in understanding. "Would you like some help, then? I'm a little too agitated to go lock myself in my office and pour over essays at the moment."

"Sure. Everything alright?" she asked, moving forward to continue her rounds. He reluctantly fell in step beside her as they made their way towards the dungeons.

"It's not entirely appropriate to discuss my personal life with you, Miss Weasley. Even if you happen to know some of the details already."

Rose gave him an apologetic grimace. "Sorry. It might be a good idea if you find a more private place to snog next time."

He let out a surprised laugh and looked at her in astonishment. "Is that how you talk to all your professors?"

"Only the ones I catch snogging my friend's older sister."

He shook his head, an amused grin on his face. "Touché, Miss Weasley."

They walked in silence for a few moments before her curiosity got the better of her. "Did you just come from the pub?"

He nodded, lips pursed as if he were restraining himself from saying anything.

"You know," she said in a contemplative voice. "If I'm allowed to call you Malcolm during break, shouldn't you be allowed to call me Rose?"

He looked at her and nodded with a small smile. "I suppose so."

"And isn't term technically over?"

He laughed then. "I suppose it is, Rose."

She grinned. "So how about you tell your friend Rose what's bothering you?"

He gave her a look. "Nice try."

"I won't tell Erin," she promised, but he didn't buy it.

"Yes you will."

"Fine, I will. But I actually know Alice pretty well. I could help."

He didn't say anything as they continued down the hall.

"Your essay was fantastic, by the way," he told her as they stopped so she could check some of the classrooms. "You're a talented writer."

"Thanks," she said, unable to stop a bit of pride bubbling up inside of her, even as she blushed. It had been a rather vulnerable essay, and he was very perceptive. Rose was just thankful he was discussing her writing skills rather than the content.

"I hear you're interested in pursuing literature and publishing outside of school?"

She nodded as they rounded a corner, heading deeper into the dungeons. "That's the plan. I have some catch up work to do, but it's actually been going well."

"Good," he said with a pleased smile. "You show promise. You even have the potential to write as well as edit. I'd hate to see that go to waste. I actually have some connections in the literary world so I'd be happy to help you make some of your own when you're ready."

Rose's eyes widened in pleasant surprise. "Really? That would be-"

She stopped short when they heard the soft padding of footsteps echoing down the hall, but they were coming from behind them. Based on their current location, the perpetrators were most likely headed towards the Slytherin common room. They were still around the corner from them, and Rose rolled her eyes, shooting her professor a look.

"Unbelievable," she said in a whisper. "If they made a bloody Hogsmeade run I'll be right pissed. You'd think they'd known not to sneak out on the last night of term. Then again, it seems like everyone else in this castle is just as idiotic."

He smothered a laugh as the footsteps got closer. Rose crossed her arms over her chest and assumed an authoritative stance, a scowl on her face as she turned to face the troublemakers, prepared to take points and give detentions.

There was the sound of someone sniggering, followed quickly by shushing, as three male students turned the corner. And there was one among them that Rose would have known anywhere.

She felt her heart fall into her stomach as the three Slytherins came to a dead stop when they caught sight of the Head Girl and their professor. They were carrying various forms of contraband in crates - most likely alcohol - with a logo comprised of three broomsticks stamped on each of them. The smirk Scorpius had been wearing fell from his face to be replaced with a look of horror as Rose stared at him, a mask of shock and disbelief marring her features. It was quickly replaced with anger as she took in the three Slytherins, her arms uncrossing as she clenched her fists at her side.

"What the _hell_ is going on here?" she hissed at them. Scorpius just stared at her, shame replacing the horror he'd first betrayed at being caught. His mouth opened and closed as he searched for something, anything, to say. He swallowed nervously before trying again.

"Rose-"

"Don't!" she yelled, before taking a deep breath to calm herself. "Just don't."

Silence reigned in the hallway as Rose felt the full weight of disappointment pour over her. She was thankful when Malcolm stepped forward, flicking his wand and vanishing the cases of pilfered goods without a word.

"Head back to your common room," he said with authority. "You'll be hearing from me about disciplinary action which, I can assure you, _will_ be carried out next term."

They nodded, Corbin Zabini and Eddie Marsh moving first and heading past Rose and Malcolm towards the common room. Scorpius lingered, giving Rose an apologetic look before taking a step towards her.

"Go, Scorpius," she said in a strangled voice. "Just go."

He sighed, cast a glance at his professor, and then moved past them. Rose stood rigidly still, holding her breath until she could no longer hear his footsteps. She finally let out a shaky sigh, harshly swiping at her cheeks to dry the tears she hadn't realized had fallen. She took another deep breath to calm herself as her professor stood by her side.

"You going to be okay?" he asked in concern. She nodded, wiping her face furiously once more.

"I'm going to have to tell McGonagall. I'm really sorry Rose, but this doesn't look good."

She let out a despondent sigh. "I was afraid you'd say that. Is he going to lose his badge?"

He gave her an apologetic look. "I don't know, but McGonagall will probably want to talk to you before she makes a decision like that."

Rose nodded in understanding, unable to think of anything else to say.

"I'll cover the rest of your rounds," he told her. She started to protest, but he gave her a look that assured her he would take no arguments.

"Okay. Thank you."

He gave her a small smile before she turned to head back out of the dungeons.

"Malcolm?" she called, turning back before rounding the corner. He looked at her in question.

"Scorpius…He's a brilliant Head Boy. He shouldn't have to lose that because of one mistake."

He gave her a small smile. "I'm sure that will be taken into consideration. Get some rest, Rose."

With one last nod, he turned to continue down the hall, and Rose headed back to the Heads' common room, unable to stop the silent tears that streamed down her cheeks. She was angry and disappointed, but she really wasn't even sure why it had made her cry. Maybe it was just the outpouring of everything that had happened all term, and that it had culminated to this. It wasn't the worst thing he could have done, but it was so completely out of character. Hadn't he just told her yesterday that he was going to stay out of trouble? Hadn't she just seen him in their common room before she left for her rounds?

The other two boys would be punished, but Scorpius was Head Boy, and with that title came responsibility. She remembered back to the last time a Head had been stripped of their badge, and Miller had multiple offenses against him, if Rose remembered correctly. But the Headmistress always took sneaking out of the castle, not to mention theft, much more seriously than just being caught with your girlfriend after curfew. And Scorpius was well aware of that. He knew better.

Was it just two days ago that everything seemed fine? How had life managed to turn to such shit in the blink of an eye?

* * *

 **A/N: Welcome to the longest chapter of this story so far, clocking in at just over 7k words. A lot has been building to this chapter, and I hope it delivers well. Thanks for all your reviews! I was excited that someone finally took some guesses at where the chapter titles were from. They're all song lyrics! They couldn't figure out chapter three, which is _Desperado_ by the Eagles. Also, I do not own Les Miserables or the characters whose story it tells.**

 **Happy Reading and Reviewing!**


	27. All we need is just a little patience

The train was zipping past the rolling, snow covered hills as more flurries fell from the sky. Rose hadn't shown up for the prefect meeting, so Scorpius had quickly given out a schedule for rounds and then sent them all on their way, thinking it could very well be the last duty he performed as Head Boy.

He'd slept in his old bed in the Slytherin dorms the night before, marching straight there as soon as he'd gotten back to the common room and refusing to talk to anyone. Al had gotten the hint when Scorpius had thrown a book across the room in frustration, snapping at him and saying that he wanted to be left alone.

As far as he knew, Corbin and Eddie hadn't told anyone what had happened, but, given the fact that they'd returned empty handed, everyone would have to be idiots to not realize they'd been busted.

Rose had managed to evade him as they all took the carriages down to the Hogwarts Express, not that he was working very hard to find her. He wanted to talk to her, but he was still partially clueless as to how to explain. She actually deserved an apology more than answers, but he wanted to be able to give her both.

Al had taken both of their trunks to find a compartment so Scorpius could head to the prefects meeting, and he was now walking along the train after the meeting in search of his friend.

A part of him was hoping Rose was with Al, but that seemed too optimistic. He'd never seen her so utterly disappointed in him. And there wasn't a single part of him that blamed her. Once he'd managed to calm down, he'd spent most of the night lying awake while his mind ran a million different directions. He knew he shouldn't have gone that night. Every instinct he had was screaming at him not to and he should have listened. As terrified as he was by the possible fallout of his mistake - and all the ones he'd made previously - he felt he'd gained a sense of clarity, and he was grateful for that.

Maybe life would be unfair at times and there would be things that he'd never understand, but there was one thing he did know; the moment he saw Rose in that hallway, he knew anything he could ever do to try to impress or win over other people - none of it made a difference if he lost the respect of the ones that truly mattered. The ones he cared about. The ones he loved.

Everything she'd ever said to him clicked into place with a newfound sense of perspective. He was a Slytherin, he was a Malfoy, and he was whomever he wanted to be. And he wanted to be someone the people he loved could be proud of. Screw what anyone else might think, and screw how people treated him. He didn't have to be defined by his house or his name or his family. He just hoped he'd have the chance to prove that he truly believed that.

Scorpius had made it through three cars when he caught the familiar sight of crazy red hair. Smiling to himself despite the circumstances, he stopped outside the compartment and looked in. Bobby and Louis were sitting with a chess board between them and across from Hugo, who was next to the window. He was reading while his older sister's head was resting in his lap as he held a book above her. Rose appeared to be sound asleep as she held her brother's hand that was resting on her shoulder.

Taking a deep breath for courage, Scorpius quietly rapped his knuckles on the door, and Hugo looked up. His eyes were closed off, and he glanced down at Rose before giving Scorpius a nod. He quietly slid open the door and stepped in, and Louis and Bobby looked up from their game of chess to give him waves in greeting. Now that he was in the compartment, Scorpius wasn't sure what to do with himself. Thankfully, Hugo solved his problem for him.

"Hey, can you guys give us a minute?" Hugo asked Bobby and Louis in a whisper. The two boys nodded and carefully lifted their chessboard, taking it with them as they left without question.

"I'm guessing this was why you missed the meeting too?" Scorpius asked as he moved to sit across from Hugo, leaning forward to rest his arms on his knees and wringing his hands nervously. Hugo simply nodded, closed his book, and set it on the windowsill.

"Is she okay?" Scorpius asked, unable to look anywhere but at Rose's sleeping face.

"She will be," Hugo responded, using the same quiet tone Scorpius had. "Why'd you do it?"

Scorpius looked at Hugo, not really that surprised. "She told you what happened?"

Hugo nodded. "Yep. I was doing some last minute packing and found a bunch of books that I'd borrowed from her throughout the term. I went to return them this morning and she was still in bed and looked like hell. She wound up telling me the whole story. Mind telling me your version?"

Scorpius sighed in frustration, rubbing his hands over his face. "Is what I did really all that bad?"

"It's more the consequences and the fact that you'd never do something like that," said Hugo, determined to have his sister's back. No matter how much Scorpius tried to convince himself that his rule breaking wasn't that big of a deal, he knew Hugo had a point.

"I made a mistake, alright? I knew I shouldn't have done it, and I did it anyway."

Hugo raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "That's all you want to add?"

Scorpius gave a groan of frustration, sitting back in his seat. He sat there, silent, for a few minutes, taking in the scenery as it sped by.

"You're right," he mumbled almost to himself. "The consequences of this could affect more than just myself. I've made some shitty choices recently, and I might lose my badge for them. But that's not even the worst part." He turned his head to look at Hugo. "The worst part of it…" He rolled his eyes at himself, knowing how cheesy his next sentence was going to be. "I may have risked losing everything I already have because I thought there was something else I needed to find."

Hugo held back a snicker. "Nice sentiment, mate."

"Shut it. I'm doing my best here," Scorpius grumbled. "She's only ever done right by me and I'm determined to start trying to do the same for her. I was frustrated and confused and everything just seemed to come to a head and I managed to fuck everything up."

Hugo's entire demeanor seemed to say he couldn't agree more. Scorpius gave him a look of annoyance. "Anyway, how pissed was she?"

Hugo gave a subtle shrug. "I would say she's more disappointed than anything."

Scorpius nodded, afraid this might be the case. Angry Rose he could deal with, but disappointed Rose? That was hard to recover from.

"You know," said Scorpius, a smile tugging at his lips as he looked at Rose, whose nose scrunched up for a moment as she sniffed in her sleep, "half the reason I even wanted to be Head Boy was because I knew she'd be Head Girl. I'd make a shit Head Boy without her. In fact, I've made a shit one anyway."

"I don't think that's true," Hugo mused. "All the prefects have a lot of respect for you. Well, Shepard's a question mark, but then you knew that."

Scorpius grimaced, trying not to think about that whole situation.

"We all think a lot of Rose," Hugo continued, taking a quick glance at his sister, who let go of his hand and curled both of hers in against her chest. "But I don't think you realize that she'd be rotten at this without you as well. Have you even noticed that you're usually the first one we go to when we have a problem?"

Scorpius looked at him doubtfully. "What?"

"Sure," Hugo said as if it were obvious, "Rose isn't always a stickler about keeping the rules herself, especially when it's the harmless ones, but she comes down rather hard otherwise. You manage to even that out in her. So whenever we aren't sure how we're supposed to handle something that's a little bit of a gray area, you're typically our first choice."

Scorpius' mind started whirring. Could Hugo be right? He could see what he meant about himself and Rose balancing each other out, and there were many times a week when he'd have prefects approach him about something they weren't sure how to handle. Sometimes when he was with Rose and sometimes not. He just always assumed that Rose was approached on her own as well. Maybe there were times when she was, but it was possible that it wasn't as often as he was?

"You're good at what you do, Scorp," Hugo assured him. "You're a fantastic leader and you have good instincts. You should listen to them."

Scorpius gave him a small smile in thanks, and they lapsed into silence.

"Does Al know what happened?" Hugo asked, breaking the comfortable silence that had set in around them.

"Yeah," Scorpius said with a sigh. He stood up and stretched. "He saw me come back last night. I should probably go find him. He took my trunk to find a compartment for us and knowing Al, he's probably growing agitated since I haven't shown up yet."

"Not if Erin's there to distract him," Hugo said with a chuckle. Scorpius gave a smirk of agreement as Rose began to move more in her sleep.

"I should probably go before she wakes up anyway," said Scorpius, gesturing towards Rose's prone figure. "I doubt she wants to talk to me right now. "

Hugo nodded. "I'm sure everything'll be okay, mate."

Scorpius gave him a nod in thanks before leaving and setting off to find Al. He was only a few cars down and turned out to be in the compartment Louis and Bobby had escaped to. Erin was sitting on the floor in front of Al, who was sitting next to Lily. Caleb was sitting across from them along with Bobby and Louis, who were no longer playing chess. By the way they all got quiet and looked up at Scorpius as he slid open the door, it was obvious they'd just been talking about him.

"Hey," he said awkwardly, standing uncertainly in the doorway. No one said anything for a few beats, then Bobby cleared his throat.

"We're gonna go back to our compartment," and he and Louis stood, making their way past Scorpius and out into the hallway. Louis stuck his head back through the door before they left.

"You coming?" he asked Caleb, who looked undecided for a moment before he nodded and said he'd see them later before following his friend. Scorpius let out a sigh as he moved to sit across from the compartments three remaining occupants. Al's jaw was clenched as he studied his friend while Erin didn't seem to know what to think. Lily just looked uncomfortable.

"Should I go too?" she asked tentatively, gesturing with her thumb towards the door.

"No," Scorpius mumbled. "Hugo would probably tell you everything anyway even if Rose doesn't."

"I'm not even sure what's going on," Erin said in annoyed confusion. "It was pretty obvious that Rose was upset this morning. I only really saw her at breakfast before her meeting with McGonagall-"

"She met with McGonagall?" Scorpius asked in surprise. That was news to him, and he could only assume it wasn't the good kind.

"Yeah," Erin said slowly. "Seemed kind of nervous about it but determined. She looked like shit, though."

"Mate, why did you do it?" Al asked in disappointment.

"I'm still working that out," said Scorpius, scratching at his chin in agitation. "But trust me when I say you don't have to tell me I made a mistake."

"Bloody hell. What did you do?" Lily asked with wide eyes.

Al just looked at Scorpius expectantly while the girls watched him curiously.

"I sort of snuck out after curfew last night," he began tentatively. "To Hogsmeade."

Lily's mouth dropped in shock and Erin's eyes widened to a comical size.

"You mean like a run? You went to Hogsmeade for alcohol for an illicit Slytherin party?" Lily clarified. He should have known that was all he needed to say for them to get the whole picture. The parties were infamous for the way the Slytherin's initiated their housemates.

"Scorp," Erin said in a grieved tone. "Why?"

"I told you," he tried not to snap at her. "I'm still trying to sort that out. All I know is all the shit with Shepard got to my head and I ended up making a mistake that's probably going to cost me a hell of a lot more than I bargained for."

"How come?" Lily asked apprehensively.

Scorpius chewed on his lower lip and glanced down at his shoes. "Rose was doing rounds and she caught us on our way back to the common room."

Erin shook her head in disbelief, but Lily didn't seem to think it was that big of a deal.

"So? It's not like she's going to turn you in, right?"

Scorpius grimaced. "Bray was with her. And Rose had a meeting with McGonagall this morning so I doubt he's going to let it go."

Lily let out a heavy breath and slouched back against the seat.

"Why wouldn't you be at the meeting too?" Erin asked. "Seems like something you should be included in, right?"

"Not unless she wanted to make sure we didn't try and cover anything up. I'm just not sure how much Rose actually told her."

"Scorp, it was one mistake," Lily reasoned. "I doubt you're going to lose your badge for this."

"But it wasn't just one mistake," said Scorpius, growing frustrated. "First we bent the rules by not doing rounds together cause I was being an arsehole. Then I punched Shepard for being an arsehole. And now this? Not just sneaking out, but stealing? No way I'm keeping my badge."

"You punched Shepard? How come I didn't know about this?" Al asked in indignation.

"We didn't want you retaliating," said Erin, giving him a comforting pat on the leg and ignoring his exclamation of protest. "I doubt she'll tell them all that."

"She will if she thinks I'm unfit," Scorpius reasoned.

"Look," Al said with a huff, running his hand through his hair. "I can't pretend I'm not upset with you because it was fucking stupid of you to do what you did. But you're doing it again."

"Doing what?" Scorpius questioned.

"Doubting her!" said A.l "You've got to stop doing that. I'm willing to bet it's what got you into all this mess in the first place."

It took a moment for Scorpius to process that, but once he had, he knew Al was right. If he'd just listened to her in the first place, he might never have felt the need to try and prove himself to anyone else.

"Are you going to talk to her?" Erin asked when he didn't respond. Scorpius gave an uncertain shrug.

"I want to. I know I should, but I'm just not sure how. I've never seen her that… I don't even know if there's a word to describe the way she looked at me."

"She'll come around," Lily assured him. "She can't stay away from you too long."

Lily gave Scorpius an encouraging smile, and he really hoped she was right.

"You know," said Al, "this might be a good time for you to go ahead and tell her everything. Seeing as she's already upset with you. That way you don't have to risk it happening again."

"That's a horrible idea."

"Wait. _Now_ what are you talking about?" Erin asked in exasperation.

"That's _my_ business," said Scorpius, giving Al a threatening look, who raised his hands in defeat.

"Fine, but maybe you should think about doing it soon."

Scorpius had continued to neglect telling Rose about his plans to apply to the Auror Academy. Al had taken to dropping subtle hints in front of the girls in hopes that Scorpius would decide to just tell them, but he'd continued to put it off. He wasn't even sure why at this point. He'd momentarily let himself think he was unfit to be an Auror, but he'd snapped out of that as well. He was done letting other people's choices determine the ones he made.

A part of Scorpius thought he hadn't said anything yet because it wasn't a done deal. He hadn't even submitted the application yet so why worry her now? But he knew that was just an excuse. If he was going to do this, it didn't matter at what point in the process he told people. He did want to talk to his parents first, so he was letting himself be distracted by that at this point.

The rest of the train ride passed slowly, and Scorpius was mostly left to his thoughts. Once they reached the station, he caught a glimpse of Rose from a distance as she greeted her family, but thought it best to just let it be for now. He tried to maybe catch her eye, but she never looked his way.

"Scorpius? Ready to go?"

He turned away from watching Rose to find his father standing with his trunk. "Your mother said there'll be dinner ready by the time we get home."

Scorpius nodded and followed his father out of the station. Christmas was a week away, and he'd see Rose on Christmas Eve. Normally, they'd have some type of plan formed to see each other before then, and they sort of did. They'd talked at breakfast the day before about meeting up in Diagon Alley for the annual Christmas Festival. Her dad was always heavily involved since Weasley Wizard Wheezes played a big role in the celebration, and they'd gone together the year before with Erin and Al. Did she still want to?

If it was up to him, he'd Apparate right over to her house the first chance he got and apologize and insist she forgive him so everything could just go back to normal, but he knew this was something that was going to take time to fix. As determined as he was to make things better, he knew he didn't deserve to just be forgiven right away. Right now, he wasn't even sure he deserved her.

* * *

Rose heard a knock on her bedroom door and seriously considered not responding, but she gave up on the idea when the second knock was accompanied by the sound of her mother's voice saying her name.

"Come in," she said with a sigh. The door creaked open and her mother stood in the doorway, taking in Rose's current state. She was lying on her bed, still in her pajamas and staring at the ceiling. Her hair was tied up in a haphazard bun on the top of her head and the book she'd been attempting to read lay forgotten next to her. She'd also hardly left her room since they'd come home from the station the day before.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Hermione asked, a small amount of concern coating her words. This wasn't exactly typical behavior for Rose, so she wasn't surprised that her mother was worried about her. Rose gave a small shake of her head, but Hermione moved into the room, closing the door behind her before coming to sit beside her daughter on the bed.

"Let me rephrase that," Hermione said patiently. " _Should_ you talk about it?"

A smile tugged at Rose's lips. Her mother knew her well. Rose looked at her, reaching out and gripping her hand for a moment before releasing it and letting out a groan, rubbing her hands over her face.

"Everything is just so fucked up."

Her mother gave a snort. "I knew I should have been more strict with your dad about his language."

Rose let out a chuckle. "Sorry. I'm just tired and frustrated and I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

"Well, you can start with telling me what happened," her mother suggested, scooting down to rest against the footboard, her jean clad legs stretched out beside her daughter.

"It's a long story," Rose mumbled. She stared at her hands for a while as she fiddled with them. "It wasn't exactly an easy term."

"Start at the beginning, maybe?"

Rose took a deep breath, letting it out before diving in.

She covered everything; from all that had gone on with Shepard, to the falling out they'd had about who Scorpius chose to spend time with, and finally, what had happened the last night of term.

"I thought things were going to be different this year, you know? I just didn't think different was going to go this badly."

Hermione reached out and grasped Rose's leg in comfort. "I'm so sorry, dear. This doesn't…?"

Rose sat up on her elbows so she could look at her mother. Hermione looked nervous as her fingers flexed around her daughter's leg.

"This doesn't have anything to do with what happened during the war, does it?"

Rose sat all the way up, criss-crossing her legs and reaching out to grip her mother's hand. "No. I can promise you that it has _nothing_ to do with what happened to you. I don't want you blaming yourself."

Hermione gave her a grateful smile. "I won't. I really am sorry we didn't tell you sooner."

They hadn't fully talked about it yet. Rose had been so distracted by everything else that had happened, she had only thought about getting home as quickly as possible until she saw her parents on the platform. It had all come rushing back to her when she saw how nervous they looked. She'd felt tears gather in her eyes as she gave her mother a tight and reassuring hug. Her father had asked her uncertainly how she was doing. She'd hugged him tightly as well before simply giving him a reassuring smile, promising him she was fine, and even giving him a kiss on the cheek as an extra ounce of assurance.

"I think I understand why you didn't say anything," Rose told her. "Are you going to tell Hugo?"

She nodded. "He and your dad went to breakfast. He said they're going to take a walk after and he's going to tell him then. That was almost two hours ago so they should be back soon."

"Good," said Rose, releasing her mother's hand and laying back down on the bed.

"So, does this mean you and Scorpius are…?"

Rose knew without looking that her mother's eyebrows were somewhere near her hairline in question while trying not to smirk.

"I honestly don't know what we are at this point," Rose said timidly, studying the texture of her ceiling. "I think we were maybe heading… somewhere? I don't know. He probably thinks I hate him now anyway."

"Do you?"

"No!" Rose exclaimed without thinking, before repeating it more calmly. "No, I don't think I could ever hate him. But I am disappointed. And maybe even a little angry. I thought we were past all the stupid decisions and petty arguments."

She could practically hear her mother thinking as she waited for the older witch to say something, like she knew she would.

"Remember when we told you about everything that went on between your dad and me?"

Rose nodded, continuing to stare at her ceiling.

"Do you know how many times I thought the exact same thing you are right now?"

Rose rolled her head to the side so she could look at her mum. "No," she said curiously. "Did that happen a lot?"

She gave a snort of laughter. "More times than I care to admit. I was a little hard on your dad at times, though there were moments when he deserved it. There were long stretches of time where I wouldn't even look at him let alone talk to him. I was rather stubborn, but so was he."

Rose smiled at the amused expression her mother wore. It was hard for her to believe that her parents ever went through the silly teenage drama she was dealing with, and even harder to believe they'd be able to spend a single day not talking to each other.

"How were you able to get past all that?" Rose asked. Hermione gave a shrug.

"We just got tired of pushing each other away. I suppose he always thought he didn't deserve me, and I always thought he found me too annoying to ever look at me that way. It probably helped that we could have died, so it really put things in perspective, but I like to think we would have gotten there anyway."

"Well," Rose said with a resigned sigh. "I don't have the luxury of mortal peril pushing us together, so any other suggestions?"

Hermione looked at her with wide eyes, scandalized but also desperately trying not to laugh as Rose gave her an expectant look, trying to contain a smile herself.

"Well," said Hermione, controlling her features. "First of all, be thankful you don't have to worry about potentially dying at any moment." She gave her daughter a pointed look, and Rose smiled guiltily.

"Secondly," she continued, looking at Rose with understanding and maybe even a touch of sympathy. "Be patient. You're both still growing up. I'd hate for you to try and force something neither of you are ready for."

Rose gave a groan of frustration, rolling over onto her side and propping her head up in her hand. "That's so annoying," she grumbled. Her mother smiled.

"There's a reason they say patience is a virtue."

Rose scrunched up her face in annoyance before flopping back down on the bed. "It's so hard to not just be angry and blame him for all this."

Rose heard her mother sigh and felt her weight leave the bed. Bushy brown hair obscured her vision as Hermione looked down at her with a small smile.

"Don't lose hope, alright? We learn from our mistakes. A little faith in him wouldn't be misplaced."

Rose _did_ have faith in him, but that was part of the problem. She was having trouble holding onto that when he gave her reasons not to. And she'd tried to show that lingering faith just yesterday morning in her meeting with McGonagall.

She was about to respond when the sound of the front door banging open echoed throughout the house. Rose sat up and watched in shock as her mother quickly pulled her wand before she made her way out of the room in alarm. Getting up to follow, Rose heard her brother calling for their mother and hesitantly made her way down the stairs.

By the time she reached the family room, her brother was holding their mother tightly, whispering words in her ear that Rose couldn't make out. Her dad was standing off to the side and watching them anxiously as Hermione pulled back to wipe away what appeared to be tears on Hugo's grief stricken face. It wasn't that surprising that Hugo was reacting to the news that their mother had been tortured this way. Their mother was probably the person Hugo loved most in the world. It was sweet, actually, how close the two were. Rose silently made her way over to her father as her mother began gently reassuring her brother.

"I'm _fine,_ Hugo. Really. There's nothing to worry about anymore, alright?"

He nodded before pulling her back into his tight embrace. Rose watched as she felt her father's arm come around her shoulder. She glanced up at him to see he was watching his son hold his wife with a mix of anguish and pride on his face. Rose looked back at the pair and could make out the glistening of tears on her mother's cheeks as well.

She was truly remarkable, Rose realized. Not just anyone would throw themselves into harm's way for the sake of the world, but her mother had done just that. And against all odds, she'd made it out the other side. The same was true of her father. It made everything Rose had to deal with feel so small and inconsequential.

Her mother was right; she couldn't lose hope. Her parents were proof that no matter how difficult or truly devastating things could become, there was always hope to hold onto.

* * *

 **A/N: So, since I have so much of this story written, I might be updating more frequently, depending on when I can get stuff edited. There are maybe six more chapters that take place over the Christmas holidays. So enjoy! Love hearing your reviews, even the critical ones. I did receive one that said they couldn't see this Rose and Scorpius as more than friends, and while I know myself and others see it differently, it still makes me look at everything more closely! So I appreciate it all.**

 **Make sure to check out the two new chapters I posted in _Snapshots of Faith._ One is from Malcolm's POV, and the other is Erin's.**


	28. And I'll find strength in pain

"This was a horrible idea," Scorpius grumbled, his hands shoved in the pockets of his coat and his shoulders hunched against the cold. "I can't believe you thought this might work."

"It still might," Al insisted, giving him an encouraging look. He'd owled Scorpius the day before to say that he was welcome to join the Potter family for the Diagon Alley Christmas Festival, and that Rose would be going with her parents this year. Scorpius' parents weren't the type to go to such festivities, so he'd taken Al up on the offer and met him and Erin at the Leaky Cauldron, only to be immediately informed that Rose would be there shortly. He'd barely had time to panic before she stepped out of the grate. It appeared she'd been duped as well when her eyes widened at his presence.

She'd said a quick and timid hello before grabbing Erin and heading out into the cold and crowded street. The girls were now walking slightly ahead of them as they stopped at various vendors.

"She barely looked at me," Scorpius insisted.

"What did you expect her to do? Fling herself at you and call you darling?"

Scorpius gave Al a light shove, who laughed at the scowl his friend wore. "Come on, give her some time. Would you rather she start yelling at you?"

"Yes," Scorpius said seriously. "I think I could handle that better than cold disappointment."

Al gave him an apologetic grimace as the girls ducked into Flourish and Blotts. He jerked his head towards the shop in a silent question to Scorpius, who gave a despondent sigh and nod. They followed them into the store, but the girls had already disappeared amongst the maze of shelves.

"I wanted to take a look at this book I saw over the summer," said Al, gesturing towards the rare book section.

"Go ahead," said Scorpius. "I've got something I need to look for anyway."

He wandered into the Potions section, reading over the spines as his mind tried not to spin into overdrive. It was the struggle between wanting to force the issue with Rose, or just letting things happen the way they happened. He continued to scan the shelves, rolling his shoulders and stretching his neck to relieve the stress from the cold and the overall atmosphere he'd been thrust into. It wasn't that he was trying to avoid Rose; it was more the fact that he was completely unprepared and assumed she had no desire to talk to him. If they'd just waited to see each other till the Christmas Eve party, they'd both be prepared. He knew he was probably overthinking it, but he really didn't want to mess things up further.

"I don't think it'll be over here…"

He heard Erin's voice just before she and Rose turned the corner and into his aisle. Erin just gave him a small smile when she saw him and continued searching through the books, but he barely spared her a glance. His eyes immediately went to Rose. He watched as she took a deep breath, locking her eyes on him and following Erin down the aisle.

"What are you looking for?" he asked as they reached him, pulling his eyes away from Rose.

"It's called _The Herbology Guide for Curative Potions._ I wasn't sure if it would be in the Herbology or Potions section."

Scorpius arched an intrigued eyebrow as Erin squinted at the spines of the books. "Really? Sounds boring."

She didn't even take her eyes from the books as she reached out and pinched his arm for his teasing comment. "Well what's so interesting that you're looking for?"

"I'm on a mission for my mum, who is one of the worst procrastinators I've ever met when it comes to gift shopping. She needs something for my dad."

Erin's eyes lit up as they landed on their intended target. "Yes!" she exclaimed, pulling the book from the shelf and leafing through it. She snapped it shut, turning towards Scorpius with a grin.

"I'm going to go pay for this, but I'm sure Rose would love to help you."

She quickly scampered off, and Scorpius was left to look awkwardly at Rose as she watched him uncertainly. Eventually, she let out a sigh, turning to face the shelves. "Anything in particular you're looking for?"

He cleared his throat nervously, pulling his eyes away from her to help focus his mind on the task at hand. It only took them less than a minute to find what he was looking for, and she quickly made her way towards the front once they had. He trailed after her, and they met Erin as she was finishing up her purchase.

"Where's Al?" Rose asked her, but she just shrugged and gestured to Scorpius.

"Shouldn't you be asking him that?"

Rose sighed and looked at Scorpius in question.

"He said he wanted to look for something in the rare books section, and he's coming over right now," he said, pointing over Rose's shoulder as a disgruntled Al made his way towards them.

"No luck?" Scorpius asked as he made his purchase.

"No," Al grumbled from behind him. "Apparently it's been gone since the summer."

He heard Erin questioning Al, who just dismissed the topic, saying it wasn't important as they headed back out into the street. They continued to wander, stopping at various cafes and shops that had tables of hot drinks and biscuits and other various trinkets set out. Madam Malkin's had a long line outside it of children waiting to see Father Christmas, and there was some type of petting zoo going on at the Magical Menagerie. By the time they reached Weasley Wizard Wheezes, Erin and Al were walking ahead, leaving Rose and Scorpius to walk behind them in uncomfortable silence.

He just wanted her to say something. Then again, he should probably be the one to do the talking. He was the one who'd made a mistake and had some apologies to make. It just didn't seem like the right atmosphere for it. Still, that didn't stop him from building up resolve to talk to her as soon as he had a chance.

"Uncle Ron said they're getting things set up on the roof if we want to go up," said Al, before grabbing Erin by the hand and dragging her up the stairs that led to what used to be Violet and Roxanne's apartment, but now only belonged to the former. Rose and Scorpius dropped their purchases behind the counter before following.

The roof wasn't too crowded, but there were a number of people settling in to watch the fireworks show that was due to start in half an hour. There were blankets and chairs scattered around for people to sit on. Most of the audience had to find a place in the street to watch, but the Weasleys and their extensions always watched the display from the roof.

"Al!" they heard someone exclaim, and James made his way towards them, a bright grin on his face as he gave Al a brotherly embrace. Scorpius had learned earlier that, thanks to James' continued season, the brothers hadn't been able to see each other since the holiday had started.

"When'd you get back?" Al asked with a smile as his brother released him.

"About an hour ago. I just decided to Floo straight to Vi's." He gestured over his shoulder to his girlfriend, who had her youngest sister in her arms as she talked to Ginny and Lily Potter. "We had a match against Falmouth today and they're one of the best in the league, so Cooper was riding us hard all week. I've been staying at the training facility," James explained to the other three as Rose gave her cousin a hug in greeting as well.

"How'd it go?" Erin asked in excitement.

"Well, we outscored them on the pitch," he said with forced optimism. "But Weston couldn't quite keep up with their seeker."

"Rotten luck," Al said, his face scrunched up in sympathy.

"It's alright," James said, shrugging it off. "We're actually fourth in the league right now, and our schedule looks favorable so you never know. When do you head back to Hogwarts?"

"Not till the seventh," Rose informed him.

"Brilliant! My next match is on the sixth so you should come. Don't go bragging, though, cause I can't get tickets for everyone," he said with a grin.

They all gave various forms of agreement as Violet joined them, no longer burdened by her sibling. She casually snaked her arms around James' waist in a hug as his arm naturally fell across her shoulders.

"How's Hogwarts?" she asked them. "Hard to believe this is our second year without schoolwork."

"I can't wait for that to be us," Erin said with a groan. James chuckled at her.

"Trust me, part of you is always going to miss it."

"You two enjoying your Head Duties?" Violet innocently asked Rose and Scorpius. He heard Rose's intake of breath from his position next to her and shot her a glance, but she was avoiding his gaze, as usual.

"It's great. How's the hospital?" Scorpius said in response. James and Violet looked at both of them curiously, and Scorpius didn't have to rack his brain to figure out why. Rose had hardly been able to shut up about being Head Girl over the summer. For her to clam up at an opportunity to ramble on about it once again would come off as strange even if you barely knew Rose.

"It's good," said Violet, ignoring the tension in the air. "I'm able to specialize the way I want to a little more now so that's made things even more enjoyable."

"Excuse me, sorry, I'm going to go say hello to Dom," said Rose suddenly, gesturing behind James and Violet before quickly walking off. They all watched her go for a second before James hit Scorpius with a harsh and questioning stare.

"What's going on? Why does Rose look like someone killed her puppy?"

"She doesn't have a puppy," Scorpius snapped in irritation.

"Not the point, mate," James responded, refusing to back down. Scorpius rubbed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

"It's not a big deal."

"Like hell it isn't," Al said with a scoff, earning a smack to the stomach from Erin and a glare from his best friend. Neither of these things stopped him. "He just might lose his badge is all," he informed James and Violet in an undertone.

"Okay," said Erin, grabbing Al by the arm. "We're going to wander over here." She began dragging him towards where Ly and Fred were helping George set up all the fireworks, and they could hear her snapping at him the whole way there.

"Is that true?" James asked, a serious expression on his face as Violet chewed her lip nervously, looking between the two. Scorpius sighed and moved away to sit on the edge of the building next to the stairs. He heard James whisper something to Violet before he kissed the top of her head and she gave him an encouraging smile before walking off. James came to sit next to Scorpius after stopping to grab them each a bottle of butterbeer from a crate that was nearby.

"Mind telling me what's going on?" James asked, handing a drink to Scorpius, who stared at his hands wrapped around the bottle for a moment. He really looked up to James. Especially now that he'd shown so much maturity over the past year.

"Not a lot of people know, and there's still a lot that's uncertain, so please don't go talking about this, alright?"

James opened his mouth to respond, but Scorpius beat him to it with a roll of his eyes. "You can talk to Violet."

James grinned at him before turning serious once again. "Alright. No one but Violet. What's up?"

Scorpius took a deep breath to collect himself.

"I did a Hogsmeade run after curfew for a Slytherin party and got caught," he said in a rush. James just stared at him blankly for a moment, taking a swig of his drink before speaking.

"Did you nick stuff?"

Scorpius gave a jerk of a nod.

"That was stupid of you."

"Shut it. You snuck out plenty."

"But I never got caught," James reasoned. "And I never stole. And the most authority I ever had was as Quidditch captain. Was Rose the one who…?"

Scorpius just nodded, and James let out a low whistle. They were silent for a moment, and he could practically hear James restraining himself from speaking.

"Say whatever it is you're afraid to say," Scorpius said with a resigned sigh, raising his bottle to his lips. "I probably deserve it."

"Damn right you do," James said in a harsh whisper. "Not only is this something that I know you've wanted for a while, but Rose? Anyone can see how much this has meant to her, and you just sabotaged that."

"I know, okay!" said Scorpius, struggling to keep his voice down. "I've been beating myself up about this all week. My head was all screwed up, and I made a horrible judgment call. You think I want to see her this upset? Especially knowing I'm the reason why?"

James looked at him in understanding. "Do you know how often I doubted myself because I was responsible for the same thing when it came to Violet?"

Scorpius looked at him curiously.

"I'd disappoint her, think I was no good and completely undeserving of her forgiveness, which usually led me to screwing something up again."

Scorpius focused on the ground, setting down his drink and gripping the ledge he sat on while scuffing his boot against the brick roof. "Is this supposed to be a pep talk? 'Cause I'm not sure what this has to do with my situation."

"I think it has more to do with it than you think," James said with a shrug. "Your whole demeanor screams insecure. I'm not judging you," he quickly said when Scorpius looked offended. "It just seems like what happened makes sense to you. Like you didn't expect much more from yourself. The point is," James continued. "If you start expecting to disappoint other people, it doesn't take much to be a disappointment to yourself."

Scorpius gave him a bemused look. "When did you get so wise?"

James chuckled. "See that girl over there?" He pointed at Violet, who was now joking around with Al and Erin. "She makes me a better person."

Scorpius felt a small smile tugging at his lips. "I know what you mean."

James arched an eyebrow in interest. "Do you?" he asked, taking a casual sip of his drink and casting a glance towards Rose, who was now talking to Victoire and Teddy. If Scorpius' cheeks weren't already pink from the cold, he was sure they would be now anyway.

"Doesn't matter. I screwed up, remember?"

"And I told you to stop doubting yourself, remember that?"

Scorpius gave him a guilty grimace, picking his drink up once again. "Old habits."

"Yeah, well," James stood with a sigh. "Might want to work on breaking some of those."

He wandered off towards the fireworks which were continuing to be set up by Fred and Lysander as George happily relaxed in a chair nearby, leaving Scorpius to his thoughts. He just sat there, staring at his hands and picking at the label on his butterbeer.

A lot of what he had done could be traced back to doubt. He'd doubted whether or not he actually knew who he was as a person; he doubted the choices he'd made; he'd doubted Rose. All of this circled back to the fact that he doubted himself - whether or not he could actually make a wise choice or trust his instincts. Or if he could even trust what others said about him. Maybe it was as simple as having faith in yourself and the people who loved you, but simple didn't mean it was easy.

"Can I join you?"

Scorpius' head jerked up at the wonderfully familiar sound of her voice, and he fought back a hopeful smile as Rose watched him in anticipation, standing right in front of him.

"Absolutely," he assured her, and she only hesitated for a moment before moving to sit next to him, leaving about a foot between them. He felt a sense of warmth just knowing she was near.

"I've been waiting for you to actually say something rather than just staring at me with that ridiculous expression on your face."

He winced at the annoyed tone in her voice. "Sorry. I didn't really expect to see you tonight. I didn't know if now was the right time."

She gave a hopeless shrug. "Beats me. I never expected we'd need to have this conversation."

The cold air whipped the hair that wasn't safely tucked in her hat around her face as she sat there, staring straight ahead. He could feel the tension running through her as she clasped her gloved hands in her lap.

"Rose, I'm so sorry I disappointed you," he finally got out. He watched her profile as a flicker of something crossed her face, but he couldn't identify what it was.

"Are you sorry you did it?" she asked quietly, reaching out to grab his butterbeer and taking a swig of it before handing it back to him.

"Yes," he said uncertainly, and she finally looked over at him.

"There's a difference between being sorry you did it and being sorry you disappointed me. Would you have done it if I wasn't around to disappoint?"

He actually thought about that - long and hard - before he responded.

"If I'd been thinking clearly, no. I don't think I would have. It's not really me, is it?"

She gave him a sad smile before dropping her gaze to her hands. "Do you even know what _you_ means, Scor? Two years ago you had the opportunity to make this exact same choice but you knew better," said Rose in a quavering voice. His heart lodged somewhere in his throat when he saw her eyes were wet with unshed tears. "I know you've been having a rough time, but I just can't make sense of this. It seems like you're all over the place these days, and I just can't quite figure it out. One day you're the caring and loyal person I got to know when I was fourteen, the next you're making rash decisions that you would have either never made, or at least seriously questioned before this year."

He was struck dumb for a moment as she forcefully wiped at her nose with a gloved hand and took a shuddering breath. "I know," he finally said. "I can't tell you exactly why I did it, but I've been doubting myself and I've been doubting you and I don't want to do that anymore."

She looked up when she heard the sincerity in his voice. "I don't deserve your trust or your forgiveness or anything like that," he continued. "But I want nothing more than to make this up to you. I might not fully know everything yet, but I'm going to try so fucking hard to figure it out."

Her eyes searched his, a look of hope on her face. "That," she said with a sigh, "is the one thing I never doubted."

He finally let himself smile at her, even if it was a small, tentative one. "Just don't give up on me, okay? Not yet."

Rose's lips twitched with the ghost of a smile. "I wasn't planning on it."

Scorpius let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, taking a long swig of his butterbeer before letting out a relieved chuckle. Turning to look at her, whatever words he was going to say died in his throat when he saw her watching him, and he felt like her eyes were piercing his soul.

"You're not allowed to give up on yourself either, alright? I know this looks like a simple little thing, you know? It's not like this makes you a horrible person."

She paused and he nodded, watching as she pulled her hat off and ran her hand through her hair in frustration as she scooted almost imperceptibly closer to him, looking into his eyes. "But this just feels like it really matters somehow."

Scorpius gave a shrug. "Probably because it's not just about me. What I did affects you too. It makes the whole thing worse."

Rose grimaced and reached out to grab another sip of his drink.

"We were so excited to be Heads together, weren't we?" he said softly. "I miss those kids. They had no idea it was going to all turn to shit."

She chuckled lightly as she handed back his drink. "They're still here."

"I know," he said with a sigh. "And I'm sorry I didn't listen to you all term. You were right the whole time, but I was too stubborn and tried to make things other people said and did mean more than they actually did. I should have known better, and I should have seen that you were right."

Rose let out a sigh and shifted closer to him. Scorpius felt relieved as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"I think we expect too much of ourselves, you know?" she mused. "We're going to make mistakes, and we're going to make bad choices. The world would be a hopeless place if we weren't able to forgive each other and move on."

"Are you saying you forgive me?" he asked, and he felt a few seconds of panic as she hesitated, before he relaxed as she slowly nodded against him.

"I'm not saying I'm going to be able to just let it go," she said quietly. "Especially since the situation isn't even resolved yet. But I do accept your apology. I know you're sorry."

"Do you know what's going to happen? I heard you talked to McGonagall." He'd been wondering about it for the past few days and wasn't sure if it was the right time to ask, but then again, if he said something now, he might not have to bring up the topic again for the rest of break.

"I don't know," Rose said with a sigh. "She didn't say."

"Well, what did _you_ say," he asked, barely above a whisper. She shrugged against him.

"I just told her the truth."

She didn't elaborate, and he didn't ask her to. The truth was, he'd made a mistake. One that seriously called his judgment into question and put his position in jeopardy. Rose had integrity running through her veins and he expected nothing less than honesty from her. But he now had a sinking feeling in his stomach, knowing that she might not have as much faith in him as she once did.

They both jumped as a whistle rang out, followed by a bang across the sky. Scorpius couldn't help the smile that lit up his face as bursts of color exploded above them. Everyone else had found a spot to watch the show. He saw Rose's parents lying on a blanket with their heads together as Ron pointed out various things about the fireworks. Erin had claimed a chair while Al sat in front of her on a blanket with James and Violet. Dom was carrying on with Ly and Fred as they continued to set off the fireworks. There were more people around, but Scorpius stopped paying attention to them as Rose snuggled in closer, linking her arm through his. He felt a sense of resolve, looking down at the top of her head and feeling her weight as she leaned on him. Things might not be perfect, but he was determined to make them better. He could do that for her. He could do that for himself.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry I'm late! Life gets in the way at times. Next chapter is Christmas Eve Part One! Let me know what you think in the form of a review. It's been great hearing from you guys. And how nice is it to see James again :)**

 **Happy Reading!**


	29. I've just one wish on this Christmas Eve

Rose woke up on Christmas Eve feeling more optimistic than she had since break had started. After finally talking with Scorpius the night before, she was starting to have hope that the outlook on things wasn't as bleak as she'd believed. Scorpius had seemed more assured of what he wanted and who he was going to be than she'd seen him in a while. As complicated as the situation was, maybe some good would come of this. That didn't mean she thought they were completely out of the woods, but she was trying hard not to think about it. At least for today.

She did feel slightly guilty that she hadn't filled him in on what she'd told the Headmistress. Rose had been honest when she said she'd told McGonagall the truth, but she didn't want to tell Scorpius how much she'd defended and stood up for him if it would all turn out to be for naught. And even if it proved to work in his favor, she didn't want him thinking he owed her anything or that it wasn't his own worth that had enabled him to have a second chance. Rose knew that if McGonagall let him keep his badge, that would be the exact reason why. But Rose also feared that Scorpius would misconstrue Rose's praise as either pity or charity, when it was neither of those things.

For now, she was going to have to be content to ride out the wave of whatever the next few weeks would entail. They were all expected at the Potters' for Christmas Eve that night, and Rose spent a majority of her day helping her mother bake pies. Hugo and her father had escaped the house in an effort to avoid helping. Rose was fairly certain they were actually doing last minute Christmas shopping.

An hour before the party was supposed to start, Rose and her mother Apparated to Potter Manor with half a dozen pies in tow. One of Rose's favorite parts of Christmas had always been helping to decorate the giant tree in the corner of the Potters' living room. Upon entering the house, she was quickly approached by a frazzled looking Ginny and handed a box of ornaments.

"Al was getting the last few things down from the attic, but you should be good to go," Ginny told her, taking the pies Rose had been carrying and leading Hermione into the kitchen. Approaching the tree, Rose realized that it had barely been touched. The white fairy lights had already been strung, but all of the boxes that had been brought down were unopened. Rose looked around the room to see that everyone else already seemed to have a task. Lily was rather grumpily washing the windows without magic, and Harry was stringing some garland around the banisters and along the walls. James and Al were nowhere in sight, and nobody else seemed to have arrived yet.

Rose began organizing the boxes and started with a carton of red ornaments that were a sort of tear drop shape. Pulling out her wand, she smiled as she began floating some up to rest in the places she couldn't reach. She hadn't been seventeen yet last Christmas and had always needed someone of age to assist her. It was satisfying to be able to do it all on her own, even if help would've been nice.

"Here's the last of it," said Al, appearing at her elbow and placing a few more boxes onto the already large stack. He began to walk away before Rose called after him.

"Aren't you going to help me?"

He turned back to her with a grimace. "No?"

All it took was a look from Rose and Al was letting out an annoyed sigh and returning to her side. It did go slightly faster with two people, but she didn't account for the fact that she was quite particular and ended up spending half the time correcting his placements. Al sighed in relief when Percy's family showed up, and he quickly deposited a box into Molly's hands and bolted. She fumbled it in surprise for a moment, but began helping Rose without question.

"Is anyone else here yet?" Molly asked, glancing around the room with searching eyes. She was wearing a midnight blue velvet dress with a simple neck line and three quarter length sleeves. The skirt flared elegantly from her hips and danced around her knees. Her wavy red hair was falling softly, and she had a silver headband keeping it off her face. Molly had always looked young in an innocent way, and while that remained, she looked more grown up tonight than Rose had ever seen her.

"No. My dad and Hugo aren't even here yet. Looking for someone in particular?"

Molly shook her head as she hung some of the icicles that were enchanted not to melt, but a slight blush rose to her cheeks. Rose put in a valiant effort to hide her smirk, but she had a strong feeling Molly was keeping an eye out for the Longbottom family.

Soon the house was filled with the majority of Rose's family and friends. James had shown up with Violet right after Percy's family, and Bill's family came shortly after. By the time Rose and Molly had finished the tree, the only people she hadn't seen come through either the Floo or the front door yet were Teddy and Victoire, the Longbottoms, and Scorpius.

They had ended the night before on as good of terms as possible. After the fireworks, Rose and Scorpius, along with Al and Erin, had been invited to hang out at Violet's with her and James and their friends, so they hadn't had any other opportunity to really talk. For now, things were fine between them, but not much else.

Overwhelmed with the last minute preparations and the now crowd of people in the Potters' living room, Rose maneuvered her way upstairs and into the restroom on the second floor. She closed the door and faced the mirror that hung on the back of it, taking in her appearance.

She'd chosen to wear a dark green dress that was made of a light cotton material. It had a plain neckline and hugged her body down to just above her knees. The sleeves were full length and almost slipped off her shoulders. They belled out at the elbows before cinching in again at the wrists. She'd actually pulled her hair back for the occasion, and it was in a variation of a french twist on the back of her head. Her mother had even convinced her to wear a thin gold headband, and Rose couldn't help but be pleased by the effect it had. She hadn't worn much makeup, but there was a dusting of gold over her eyes as well as a hint of dark liner that made her already round brown eyes pop even more. The most daring part, she believed, was her bold red lips.

As far as the Christmas Eve party went, Rose wasn't sure what she'd been expecting from it. She would have to be blind not to see that things had recently been moving in a more than friends direction between herself and Scorpius, before everything went south at the end of term. This night could have had a much different feel to it. Rose could have spent it with nervous butterflies, wondering what would happen if they ended up caught under any of the various sprigs of mistletoe that she'd seen Fred sneakily carrying into the house when he arrived. Maybe Scorpius would ask her to step out onto the back deck and lend her his jacket when she shivered in the cold as they watched the gently falling snow.

None of that seemed possible at this point in their relationship. If she really thought about it, she'd probably realize that none of those things would have been plausible even without the recent complications that had arisen. Wasn't it just Halloween that he'd said something about not yet? That they'd talk about it someday, but it wasn't the right time? She'd understood in the moment, but the longer time went on, the more she'd started to wonder what, exactly, he was waiting for. Now, however, she was wondering if they'd ever get there.

She took a few deep calming breaths as she heard the front door close down stairs, followed by the sound of many people greeting whomever the newcomers were.

Stealing herself to once again face the onslaught of relatives, Rose made her way back downstairs, relieved to see that it was the Longbottoms who'd finally arrived. She paused on the stairs, taking in the scene of her massive family and more than a few friends crowded into one room. Her uncle Bill was standing with his arm resting on the mantle and talking rather animatedly with Lorcan Scamander, who had a tired looking Roxanne at his side. She had her hand in his and was resting her head on his shoulder, not even paying attention to the conversation. Shifting her gaze, Rose saw James sitting in a chair by the tree, Violet draped across his lap as they laughed at something Fred was explaining rather expressively to Eva Wood, who almost looked terrified. Seeing them together made her think of Scorpius' comments a month ago, and she wondered if his suspicions held any weight.

Ethan Longbottom was talking to Rose's dad, most likely about training, but the young Auror kept glancing over Ron's shoulder to where Molly was chatting with Luna. Al, Caleb, Hugo, and Lily were being blocked from the dining room by an irate looking Ginny. Rose chuckled, thinking it must have been her brother's idea to try and sneak food before it was time to eat.

There were so many others, it was hard to keep track of who belonged to whom. Dom and Fleur were fussing with Louis' shirt that was slightly wrinkled, Bobby was trying to corral his younger siblings with Lucy's help, Jill was talking to Rose's mother, and Harry was shaking hands with Neville in greeting.

Rose smiled as Erin caught her eye, and she slowly made her way down the rest of the stairs, thankful that the Potters lived in a large enough house that she still had plenty of elbow room amongst the crowd.

"You look fantastic," Erin said with a saucy wink, moving forward to hug her friend. Rose laughed and returned the compliment. Erin had gone with a red dress, something Rose envied her for as she could never get red to not clash with her hair. It had capped sleeves and a keyhole neckline, the skirt flaring out at the waist. Her blonde hair was a bit curlier than normal, but left to its own devices otherwise. She'd gone with a rather bold look for her makeup, her eyes smokey but not over the top.

"Ethan and Alice came to the house so they could come with us, and I've never seen two people more opposite in their desire to get to a party," said Erin, sounding beyond annoyed with her older siblings.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rose asked with an amused chuckle.

"It means Ethan couldn't stand still for one minute and practically pulled us out the door before Mum was ready, and Alice looked like she was about to make a last ditch effort not to come."

"Is she still not talking about whatever's going on?"

"Nope," said Erin. "Not even a little."

The door opened once again, but Rose couldn't see over the many heads to see who'd entered. She was distracted from finding out when Al approached them.

Rather than being his usual confident self, he stood nervously next to Erin, who watched him with a challenging look in her eyes. Rose tried not to laugh as Al attempted to stutter out whatever it was he was trying to say, tugging nervously at the collar of his dark blue shirt.

This turn of events wasn't surprising. When they were at Violet's the night before, the two had gotten into a bit of a row, though one that wasn't nearly as explosive as many from their past. It had been silly, honestly. Erin had started sniffling, and Al was worried she was getting a cold from being outside in the below freezing temperatures. He'd insisted on piling blankets on her and even searched through Violet's stock of potions, pulling out whatever he thought might help. It had annoyed Erin to no end and she'd wound up snapping at him that she could look out for herself, which only led to Al arguing that she never let anyone take care of her and couldn't she just let him? This, to Rose's astonishment, had actually worked. Although Erin didn't soften entirely and still glared at Al the rest of the night, she did agree to take a Pepper-Up potion.

Tired of his stammering, Erin rolled her eyes and spoke up. "Just tell me I look nice, Potter."

This did the trick, and Al gave her an annoyed look, but there was amusement in it. "Actually, I was going to go with ravishing."

Erin blushed violently, but Al just chuckled, his nerves completely gone as he moved forward to casually wrap his arm around her waist and kiss her on the temple. This gesture was followed by him spotting someone in the crowd and wandering off. Rose smirked at Erin's still flushed cheeks.

"Your face matches your dress."

"Shut it."

Rose laughed, but it died in her throat as Al returned, this time with Scorpius in tow.

He had on dark charcoal slacks and a jacket of the same color. His collared shirt was deep burgundy and looked like it would be incredibly soft if Rose were to run her hand over his chest. He gave a small smile, and Rose couldn't help feeling pleased when he looked her up and down, his eyes soaking her in.

"You look lovely," he said, managing a smirk through his somewhat dumbstruck expression before turning to Erin and saying much the same.

"Did your parents come?" Erin asked. Scorpius shook his head, but didn't seem too distressed by this. His grandmother usually insisted on spending the day with his parents, and it had taken a few years before they'd even allowed Scorpius to come to the Potters' on Christmas Eve. It wasn't until Draco and Astoria realized how miserable Scorpius was on those occasions that they allowed him to come after first joining them for dinner. Scorpius loved his grandmother, Rose knew that, but no matter how reformed she was, she had been hardened by the consequences of her choices. Based on what Rose had heard, Narcissa Malfoy had grown even colder after the passing of her sister.

"When do you lot want to do gifts?" Al asked. The four of them had taken to swapping presents with each other on Christmas Eve. It wasn't something Rose would call a tradition yet, since this would only be the second year they'd done it, but she was looking forward to being able to call it one next year.

"Let's do it later," said Erin. "After the toasts."

They all agreed to this, and Rose noted that Erin was nervously watching Al as she'd made the suggestion. It made Rose remember what exactly Erin had gotten Al for Christmas and how she was afraid it would be too personal. Rose saw it going one of two ways. Either Al would respond the way Erin was fearing and she'd scare him away - an option Rose didn't think held much weight- or, he'd be thrilled by the gift, but not really read that much into it. That seemed like the most Al-like response. She thought it would take more than a thoughtful gift to make Al see sense about Erin's feelings for him.

There was eating and mingling, and Teddy and Victoire won a spot on cleanup duty by being the last to arrive. Rose took time catching up with the family members she hadn't had a chance to yet, while others did much the same. People broke off at times to play games of exploding snaps on the patio, and Ginny would occasionally grab a young person to help restock food and drinks. Eventually, Rose found herself in conversation with Fred and Lysander about their continued efforts to open their own expansion shop.

"We've almost got all our seed money saved up," Fred was saying enthusiastically. "And we only need two or three more products to really have a solid range of merchandise."

"We're even testing some out tonight," Lysander said excitedly.

Before Rose could ask any clarifying questions, James approached them.

"What's with the two of them?" he asked Rose, gesturing with the cup in his hand to where Erin was sitting in a chair and laughing at something Jill was saying, while Al sat on the arm. His own arm was stretched along the back of the chair as he looked between Erin and Jill with a smile on his face. It all looked relatively innocent to Rose, but it didn't help that, though they did flit to Jill occasionally, Al mostly only had eyes for Erin. Rose tried to act oblivious.

"What do you mean? Everything looks normal to me."

James gave Rose a look that clearly said he wasn't buying it. "I saw you all talking earlier. My brother is not the type of bloke to be affectionate to any old girl, let alone one who's not even family."

Rose struggled over what to say, remembering clearly how Al had slipped his arm around Erin's waist and kissed her head and how surprised Rose had been by the open display of affection. She knew what Erin would say if James had bugged _her_ about it, so Rose channeled her best friend as she responded.

"They're friends, James. Please don't give them a hard time."

James still wasn't convinced. "Look, I was suspicious yesterday because of how he was hovering over her, but I let it go. But you can't tell me _that_ means nothing."

Rose looked back over her shoulder to see Al was now whispering in Erin's ear while her hand rested on his thigh as she listened with a grin on her face. Rolling her eyes at their lack of subtlety, Rose turned back to see James, Fred, and Ly all looking at her expectantly.

"They've been driving me insane," she finally relented. "At first it just seemed like they were in denial about their feelings, but now it seems like they're in denial about how the other one feels about them."

James looked back towards his brother and Erin, intrigued by the situation. "You mean the way he's looking at her isn't enough to convince her?"

Rose didn't even need to turn around to see the dopey expression she knew was probably on Al's face, and shook her head. "Erin's big on denial and has a hard time with trust."

"Maybe we could get them under some mistletoe and they can sort out their tension the old fashioned way?" James said with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

"I'm willing to bet they've already tried that," Lysander said dryly, surprising Rose with his insight.

"More times than I'd care to count," said Rose, much to the pleasure of the three wizards.

"So what you're saying," James said through a repressed chuckle, "is that my kid brother is getting his snog on, but he hasn't actually grown a pair and asked her out?"

The boys seemed to find this hilarious and started full on laughing now.

"I don't see what's so funny," Rose said in annoyance. "You took forever to ask out Violet," she threw at James. "And I don't see you two being in any type of stable relationships," she snapped at Fred and Ly. This sobered them up some, but James continued to try and stifle his laughter.

"Sorry, I just can't wait for this to blow up in his face."

"That's a little insensitive, don't you think?" Rose asked, giving her cousin a disapproving look. "He could really hurt her if he doesn't get his act together."

"Oh, she'll get over it," James said with a wave of dismissal. "Love's forgiving like that."

Rose paused in shock at this. The idea of her best friends loving each other hadn't even crossed her mind, but besides that, it struck her how right James was. She'd seen it in her parents when her dad told her about how he'd deserted her mother and her uncle when they were hunting horcruxes. She'd seen it in the way her grandmother would get angry at one of her many sons when they'd do something stupid or even dangerous, and she'd be back to showering them with affection moments later. She was even beginning to see glimpses of it in her own life, but that didn't mean it was of the romantic kind.

"Don't give him too hard of a time," said Rose, bringing herself back into the conversation as the three boys discussed ways they could mess with Al. "This affects Erin too you know."

"Alright we'll lay of," James assured her, but a smirk appeared on his face. "For now."

They were thankfully able to drop the subject as Dom appeared at Ly's shoulder. "Have you lot seen Lou?"

When they all glanced around and shook their heads, she gave a huff of annoyance and turned to walk away, but Fred seemed to have other ideas.

"Wait! You can't leave!"

Dom looked at him suspiciously. "Why?"

Fred looked positively giddy as he explained. "Because you two are under the mistletoe."

Lysander's head quickly jerked up and his eyes widened in shock to see the mistletoe that was, in fact, hovering above himself and the girl next to him. Dom glanced up too, but merely rolled her eyes. "Did you stash those all over the house again?"

Fred continued to grin. "Not exactly."

Lysander was turning red now as he glared at Fred. Rose saw her own confusion mirrored on James' face.

"Go on," Fred goaded, but Dom snorted in amusement, not even looking at Lysander as he glanced at her uncertainly.

"Just because there's mistletoe, Fred, doesn't mean I _have_ to kiss him." And with that she flounced away, leaving Fred to double over in laughter as Lysander returned to glaring at him.

"This isn't funny," he snapped, but Fred just continued to laugh as tears sprang into his eyes.

"Oh, but it very much is. Did you even know?"

Lysander turned even pinker at this. "Not exactly," he mumbled, his arms crossed as he looked down at his feet. This seemed to tickle Fred even more as he practically cackled at his best friend.

"What're we missing?" James asked. Fred was able to calm himself down enough to answer.

"Remember how we said we were testing products tonight?"

James and Rose nodded.

"Well," Fred continued, giving Lysander a very pleased grin, "we charmed the mistletoe so that it only pops up over two people who would like to, shall we say, take advantage of the situation? And have yet to do so?"

James' eyes widened as a grin broke out across his face. "No way."

"Oh yes," Fred said with a delighted grin. "That's how Ly knew Al and Erin must have snogged already. They've got to have made physical contact at some point in the evening, so think of it as a suggestive nudge. I'm guessing you hugged her earlier or something?" said Fred, turning his attention back to Lysander.

"She grabbed my arm to steady herself just now," Ly muttered, refusing to look at any of them. "It doesn't mean it's actually working properly," Lysander tried to reason. "It could have been a malfunction."

"You did most of the charm work yourself so you should know better than anyone just how well they work," Fred argued back.

"You could always test it," Rose suggested innocently. "She's right over there. Go stand next to her."

This seemed to be the last thing Lysander wanted to do, and he was saved from responding by Uncle Harry casting a sonorus and gaining everyone's attention.

It had been a tradition for as long as Rose could remember. Right around nine o'clock, they'd all form something that resembled a circle around the living room, and three people that had been previously selected would give a short toast. It was always the adults, and more often than not, the men. Rose secretly believed this was because they all knew that they'd be there forever if her mother or Luna were given the chance to speak.

Some of the younger children were standing on the stairs, and eight-year-olds Sean Finnigan and Ian Thomas were leaning over the upstairs bannister. Most everyone else stood with their families, and Rose crossed the room to where her mother and father were standing, her brother ducking out of the way as Hermione tried to fix his hair.

"Alright, Arthur?" Harry called across the room as everyone settled into place, and the patriarch of the Weasley family stood from the rocker he'd been lounging in.

"Well, Happy Christmas, everyone."

He was acknowledged by an echo of response. "I do believe I'm blessed more and more each passing year," he said, looking at them through his spectacles with the fond smile that always filled Rose with warmth. "To see all your happy, healthy, smiling faces looking back at me. Well, there's nothing more I could ask for. So here's to another year of love and laughter."

A chorus of cheers was given and glasses were raised. Arthur then addressed his eldest son.

"Well, I think it's safe to say we have a lot to be thankful for this year," Bill began. "But I'm even more excited about the things we have to look forward to." He looked fondly over at his eldest daughter, who was standing with her back against her fiancé's chest as his arms were wrapped around her waist. They both smiled warmly at Bill. "It's been a long time since we've added to our ranks, and I can't think of anyone that I'd rather be pleased to call son other than my own. It's exciting to see this family growing again. So here's to continued love and continued growth."

There was another round of cheers as Fleur wiped a joyful tear from her eye. "And with that," Bill continued. "Ted?"

Rose looked at Teddy in surprise, and some of her cousins did as well. This was the first time someone other than the parents had been asked to give a toast. It gave Rose a mixed sense of joy and sadness, to know that Teddy had grown into the man they all knew he'd be someday, but to realize that none of them were the kids they used to be anymore. Maybe they'd even ask James to say something in the next few years. Or Fred. They all gave Teddy their undivided attention as he beamed and looked around the room.

"You all have always treated me like family, and I don't think I can ever fully express how much that means to me. Some of you actually are., He inclined his head towards Scorpius, who was standing with the Potters, and received a small and grateful smile in response, "but if marrying Vic allows me to call _all_ the Weasleys family, well, I think I can make that sacrifice."

His comment earned him a few chuckles and a light smack on the chest from Victoire, who was trying very hard to look cross with him. "In all seriousness," Teddy continued with a grin. "Thank you for everything you've ever done for me. I know you're all heroes in the world's eyes, but you are in mine as well. So cheers to family, and finally having one."

There was actually some hooting and hollering at the end of Teddy's speech, and a flicker of panic crossed his face as he and Victoire were rushed by James, Al, Lily, Louis, and Dom. They enveloped them in something that was a mix between a tackle and a hug, and Victoire squealed in either fear or delight while James managed to get a now laughing Teddy in a headlock. The onlookers laughed and cheered at the merriment before the party resumed as normal.

"I think they planned that," Hugo said with a chuckle, watching as Al grabbed Scorpius and pulled him into the continued group hug.

"Probably," said Rose, remembering back to Dom asking if they'd seen her brother.

"Do you know what's up with Rox?"

Hugo's question caught Rose off guard. She hadn't seen much of Roxanne all night, and when she had, the girl was normally close to Lorcan's side.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked. Hugo looked at her quizzically.

"You didn't see her crying?"

Rose's eyes widened. "When?"

"Just now, after Bill's speech. It didn't look like happy tears either. She snuck off upstairs as soon as Teddy finished his toast."

Rose had missed that entirely, so focused on Bill and then Teddy. She glanced around and saw Lorcan talking to his brother and Fred, and Violet talking to Ginny. Which meant that it was likely Roxanne had gone off alone. Unsure what she could do herself, Rose subtly made her way over to Violet, waiting for an opportunity to pull her aside. It came only a few minutes later when Ginny was needed to sort out a drink issue.

"I think something's wrong with Roxanne," she quickly whispered as soon as she had Violet's attention. Concern caused Violet's brow to furrow, and she cast her eyes around the room.

"She snuck out right after the toasts, and Hugo said she was crying," Rose explained.

Understanding grew on Violet's face. "Where did she go?"

"Upstairs."

Violet moved quickly past Rose, who grew even more concerned and couldn't help but follow. Once they reached the top of the stairs, Violet quickly ran down the hall and threw open the bathroom door, light and the sound of tears flooding the dark hallway. Rose heard Violet utter Roxanne's name in a question as she quietly moved towards the still open door. By the time Rose reached the bathroom, Violet was sat on the floor, holding a sobbing Roxanne.

* * *

 **A/N: This is part one of three of the Christmas Party! I might post all three of them this week if I'm able to find the time :) Sorry about the cliffhanger, but if you've read Fight or Flight, my story about James and Violet, you might have an inclining about what's bothering Roxanne. Keep your eyes open for part two soon! And as always, I look forward very much to your reviews.**

 **Happy Reading!**


	30. Faithful friends who are dear to us

Violet's eyes snapped to Rose, and she seemed to be debating between asking Rose to leave and asking for her help.

"What can I do?" Rose asked, trying not to panic at the state of her cousin.

"Lorcan," Violet said immediately. "Go get him."

Rose had already turned to go back downstairs before Violet had finished speaking. She stopped halfway down to have a better chance of spotting Lorcan and finally saw him moving through the crowd, his eyes searching for something. They moved past Rose, but he must of sensed her watching him, because his gaze snapped back to her, a question in his eyes. Rose gave a jerk of her head towards the second floor, and concern appeared on his face as he moved towards her. Rose began to move back up the stairs, and Lorcan had caught up to her by the time she reached the second floor.

"She's in the bathroom with Violet and she's not okay."

Lorcan nodded and hurried past her, turning into the bathroom. Rose continued to follow him and reached the doorway in time to see him kneeling in front of the two girls, his voice soft as he quietly spoke to his girlfriend. Roxanne's face was buried in Violet's shoulder, but she turned her head at the sound of his voice. When she saw him, her eyes cleared a bit, but she let out a sob as she almost lazily moved to hold him instead. Lorcan grabbed her and turned so his back was against the tub, Roxanne now draped across his lap. Violet watched them for a few moments, her face etched with pain. Eventually, she stood, making her way towards Rose, who took one final look at the couple, only to see that Lorcan was now silently crying before Violet joined her in the hall and closed the door.

"What the hell happened?" Rose asked in a strained whisper. Seeing two people who'd always been so steady completely fall apart like that wasn't something Rose had ever expected to witness. Roxanne was always the one that helped keep them grounded and in line, and Lorcan was always able to offer words of comfort. What could have possibly caused them so much pain?

"I'm not sure it's my place to tell you," said Violet, her voice shaky as she herself tried not to cry.

"Hey, what's going on?" James had come up the stairs and looked concern. Violet's face relaxed, and she moved forward to wrap her arms around her boyfriend. James held her tightly as he gave Rose a questioning look over Violet's head.

"All I know is Roxanne's currently crying her eyes out in the bathroom, and Lorcan isn't doing much better," she told her cousin. This seemed to confuse James, who pulled back to look down at Violet.

"Yesterday," Violet said in a whisper. "Yesterday would have been…"

She didn't need to continue. James understood. He pulled her into his arms again, kissing the top of her head and rubbing soothing circles into her back as she breathed deeply. Even though she couldn't help but feel like she was intruding, Rose couldn't seem to pull herself away. Not until she knew Roxanne was going to be alright. They just stood there for a while, Rose wasn't sure how long, no one seeming to have any desire to leave their friends.

The sound of someone coming up the stairs had Rose snapping out of the daze she'd slipped into, looking over her shoulder anxiously. Al trudged up to the second floor and took in the sight of Rose, Violet, and James with a curious expression. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he approached them.

"What's with the long faces?"

Before any of them could come up with an excuse, the bathroom door opened behind them. Lorcan and Roxanne walked out, hand-in-hand. It was obvious that Roxanne had been crying, but Lorcan looked like he'd been able to pull himself together.

"Bloody hell, what happened?"

Rose scowled at Albus and slapped him in the chest for his lack of tact. The other four didn't pay him any mind as James pulled Roxanne into a hug and Lorcan put his arm around Violet. Al seemed baffled by this behavior.

"I know as much as you do," Rose said in an undertone. When the two couples finally noticed them, a look of apprehension crossed Roxanne's face.

"Are you alright?" asked Rose, unsure if she'd be allowed to voice any of the other million questions that were running through her mind. Her cousin didn't speak up, but glanced between Lorcan, James, and Violet as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth. Lorcan tugged on her hand and she looked up at him.

"It might help if we told everyone."

"Everyone?" Roxanne asked uncertainly. "I don't know if I'm ready for that yet."

"How about the cousins?" James suggested. "I know we wouldn't tell anyone, and we all love you so much. Both of you. I think everyone else would want to know."

Roxanne didn't seem entirely convinced, but Lorcan kissed the top of her head, and she looked at him in question. "It's up to you," he said. "But it could be good for you."

Something like determination crossed Roxanne's face, and a sad smile came to her lips as she nodded at her boyfriend. "Okay. Before the snowball fight, we call a cousin meeting, alright?"

With the promise of an explanation, they all made their way downstairs, agreeing to stop in the dining room for drinks.

"Oh, I came to find you so we could do gifts," Al told Rose, remembering his original mission in going upstairs.

"I almost forgot," said Rose. "We can go find them in a second."

They entered the dining room to find that all the drinks were heavily depleted, so James made to go get refills. He'd barely opened the door that led to the kitchen when he stopped, staring straight ahead as his jaw dropped. He gave a laugh of disbelief and looked over his shoulder, grinning at them all as his eyes landed on Roxanne.

"I think I found something that might cheer you up."

Curious, she moved forward till she was peering through the only slightly open door. She gasped and her hand went to her mouth, but a smile was visible before she covered it up. James waved the rest of them over as he pushed the door all the way open.

Rose's eyes widened in surprise as she took in the sight in the kitchen. There were only two people present, but they were snogging each other rather furiously. Dominique was backed up against the door to the pantry, Lysander's hands resting against it as hers gripped the front of his shirt.

"Oh this definitely cheers me up," said Roxanne, now fully grinning as Lysander moved to press his body against Dom's and tangle his hands in her long, strawberry blonde hair.

"Should we say something?" Al asked with a snigger.

"We could just leave them be?" Rose suggested, feeling more uncomfortable the longer they stood there watching them.

"I need to get in the pantry," James pointed out.

"Well we should at least stop them before they bloody well shag in front of us," Lorcan grumbled, seeming disconcerted by watching his brother engage in his current activities.

"Um, Dom?" Violet said with a chuckle. Nothing happened. James sighed and rolled his eyes as he pulled out his wand. A rather loud bang sounded and Dom and Ly sprang apart. Lysander cast his gaze around the room for the source of the sound, but Dom's eyes had immediately landed on their intruders.

"Having fun?" James asked with a smirk. Lysander's gaze quickly snapped to him. He blushed and cleared his throat as Dom tried to untangle her hair.

"Yeah," Lysander said breathlessly. "Until you so rudely butted in."

Dom glanced at him, a subtle smile on her face as Lysander looked at James in annoyance.

"So sorry about that. We needed to get in the pantry," James said with a cheeky grin.

Dom pushed herself off the door, moving to stand next to Lysander. James smirked and went into the pantry, retrieving a crate of butterbeer and a few bottles of firewhiskey.

"You can carry on," he said with a nod, and moved back into the dining room, the others making room for him to walk through and then following.

"Bloody hell, I didn't need to see that," said Lorcan, rubbing his eyes as if to banish the sight from his brain.

"Definitely served as a good distraction," said Roxanne.

James started passing out butterbeers, tapping each one with his wand to cool them before handing them over.

"Come on," Al said to Rose, taking a couple extra bottles. "Let's go find Erin and Scor."

Rose followed her cousin out of the dining room. They found their friends quickly, and they all made their way upstairs to Al's room. The three kids had the third floor all to themselves. The second was reserved for Harry and Ginny and any guests they might have. Al flopped onto his bed and Scorpius pulled out the chair at the desk. Rose and Erin sat on the window seat that was big enough for someone to sleep on, and Rose had even done so a few times in her younger years.

The atmosphere felt tense as they sipped their butterbeers, and Rose wasn't surprised. What with the unspoken words between Al and Erin and the recent tension between herself and Scorpius, it made sense that this would feel different than just four friends exchanging knick knacks with each other. Scorpius managed to break the awkward tension by grabbing a gift from the pile and tossing it to Erin. They'd all vanished the presents to Al's room at some point earlier in the day, and Al had collected them from wherever they'd landed and put them on his desk.

"This from you?" Erin asked with a smile, setting aside her empty bottle. Scorpius nodded and she began tearing open the package. He then chucked a gift to Al as well, who caught it and sat up on his bed. He handed Rose hers since she was the closest to him.

"Brilliant!" said Erin, tossing aside the paper and revealing a bar of her favorite Honeydukes chocolate, a box of pepper imps, and a tin of her favorite type of tea.

"You're always complaining about how they don't have it at the castle," Scorpius said with a shrug.

"I love it, thank you," said Erin with a grin.

"Thanks, mate," said Al, holding up a nice pair of seeker gloves and a jar of broom polish.

Rose barely noticed any of this as she opened the small box he'd handed her. Inside was a bracelet made of leather. It was about half an inch wide and tapered into braids at the ends so it could be tied around her wrist. The ends were finished with bronze beads to keep them from fraying. The part that held her attention the most were the words that were carved into it.

 _There is nothing like a dream to create the future._

It seemed so familiar, but she couldn't place it. She looked at Scorpius in question and saw him watching her nervously.

"It's from _Les Miserables_ ," he explained. "I know how much you liked it, and with all the work you're doing to pursue your dream…" He trailed off, looking embarrassed and uncertain. Rose's heart swelled as she pulled the bracelet out of the box so she could fasten it on her wrist.

"It's perfect," she said, smiling widely at him. "I love it. Where did you get it?"

His grin made her heart beat a smidge faster as he reached out so he could fasten it around her wrist. "I actually had to talk to Charlotte and she got it made at a Muggle shop for me. I figured it would make sense to keep it Muggle."

Rose needed to remember to thank the Hufflepuff when they got back to school. Her family had plans for Christmas Eve so she'd been unable to come tonight. Al got up from the bed and grabbed the next gifts from the pile. The one he handed to Rose was easily identifiable as a book based on the shape and weight, and she grinned to see it was a book on Ancient Runes.

"I really didn't want to get you something so boring," her cousin said, "but you kept going on about supplemental reading, and I knew you'd appreciate it."

"I do," she assured him with a laugh, flipping it open to look at the chapter index.

"Oh," said Erin in a dazed voice, and Rose looked over to see her holding a thick leather bound book. There was a picture on the cover of Erin with her family: her parents, brother and sister, and her great-grandmother. Erin looked to be about seven or eight years old in the picture, as her family stood around a park bench that Augusta Longbottom sat on. Erin was small enough that she could stand on the bench next to her grandmother, and she was beaming at the camera, a few teeth missing, as she occasionally bent down to hug her Great-Gran as the picture moved. Erin looked up at Al in astonishment.

"Where did you get this?"

"Your dad _is_ my godfather you know," he said sheepishly. "I know you haven't talked about it much, but I know how much you miss her. I thought it would be nice to actually have some memories to hold onto and, well…"

He looked at the book and Erin turned her attention back to it, carefully opening it and letting out a gasp. Pictures of Erin and her family littered the pages. Some were of her and her parents and others with her siblings, but the majority of them contained her Great-Gran. As she flipped through the pages, Rose saw that it went in chronological order, and eventually, Rose and Al began to appear in some of the pictures. A few were even from before they went to Hogwarts. There was one of her and Rose helping Hannah bake at the Leaky, and a rather adorable one of Al and Erin that looked like it had been taken by the Potters' pool. Erin had a popsicle in her hand, and Al threw his arm around her shoulder as he gave a toothless grin to the camera. Erin smiled at it, her thumb rubbing the edge where her hand gripped the book. She continued, and pictures of their other friends began to appear as well, but throughout it all, there was her great-grandmother. By the time she got to this past summer, she was only halfway through the book.

"I've got a stack from this past term, but I didn't have time to put them in. And there should be plenty of space for you to fill up with the next few years," explained Al, who was now sitting on the corner of his bed, right in front of Erin, watching nervously for her reaction. One of the final pictures was probably the last one taken of Erin and her grandmother. She was curled up next to her in a bed while Augusta read to her from an old tattered book. When she finally looked up at Al, her eyes were shining with unshed tears, but she smiled.

"It's beautiful. Thank you."

Al let out a sigh of relief, and Rose stood up to grab her gifts for her friends and saw that Scorpius was rolling the training Quaffle that Al had given him between his hands. If Rose remembered correctly, it was charmed to return to you after you took a shot so you could practice on your own. Rose had actually encouraged Al to get the gift after hearing Scorpius complain about not having anyone to practice with when he was at home instead of playing at the Potters'.

Erin thanked Rose for the brand new potion kit she'd given her, and Al seemed thrilled by the athletic style duffle bag that he'd be able to use while training to be an Auror. She hadn't really known what to do for Scorpius. He hadn't yet talked to her about what he really wanted to do after Hogwarts, so she couldn't get him something for that like she'd done with the other two. She decided to go for sentimental instead.

He pulled something soft and dark green out of the box he'd unwrapped, looking at it with curiosity before his face lit up in understanding, and he pulled it fully out of the box before snapping his wrists so it spread out in front of him. The beautiful afghan fell across his lap and onto the floor. It looked big enough to cover at least a full sized bed. He ran it between his hands, an impressed look on his face.

"Did your grandmother make this?"

"No," said Rose, suddenly feeling shy. "I did."

Scorpius looked at her with wide eyes, cracking a grin. "Really? I didn't know you could do that."

"I've been working on it in my dorm," she said with a proud smirk. He laughed and folded it up.

"It's perfect. Thank you."

Erin's gifts were the final ones, and Rose was awed by the beautiful leather bound journals she'd given her.

"They're so you can write," said Erin, and Rose thanked her, running her finger along the intricate stitching on the front. Scorpius seemed very pleased with his gift, and immediately opened the tin of homemade jammy dodgers Erin's mother had most likely made.

"Please tell your mother she's amazing," Scorpius said around a mouthful of cookie. Erin chuckled.

"Actually, I made those," she said, obviously proud of her achievement. Scorpius' eyes widened in surprise.

"Really? I didn't know you could bake."

She nodded and he popped another in his mouth before offering one to Rose as he told Erin she was amazing. But Erin wasn't really listening. She was watching Al as he stared, completely stunned by the book in his lap. It was midnight blue and had gold script on the cover. The pages were somewhat uneven and discolored. Carefully, he opened it and began to turn them, taking his time to read the introduction and dedication at the beginning before he looked at Erin.

"How'd you know?"

At this question, Erin's anxious look fell from her face to be replaced with one of confusion. "How did I know what?"

His gaze returned to the book as he slowly closed it. "I saw it this summer and went back to see if it was still there yesterday, and obviously it wasn't. How'd you know?"

"I didn't," Erin said with an incredulous chuckle. Al looked up at her, his face almost blank.

"Thanks," said Al, a smile breaking out on his face. Rose and Scorpius gave each other uncomfortable glances as their two friends just stared at each other for a moment, grinning. They were saved by the sound of Lily's voice carrying down the hall, immediately snapping Al and Erin out of their daze.

"Looks like it's almost fight time," said Scorpius, looking at his watch.

"Actually," said Rose, standing from her seat and stacking her presents. "We have to have a cousins meeting real quick. It shouldn't take long. You two can go ahead and change, okay?"

Al and Rose hurried down the stairs and found that the rest of the cousins were already circled around the living room. Everyone else had left the party, and Harry and Ginny could be heard doing some cleanup in the kitchen. Rose did notice that the Scamander twins and Violet were also in attendance as well as Teddy, although he'd always been included during any cousin meetings they'd had.

"Alright," said Fred, addressing the group. "This isn't easy, but Roxanne and Lorcan have chosen to confide in all of you because they trust you and they know you care about them. With that said, they will do the talking, and you will refrain from asking insensitive questions. Got it?"

Everyone nodded, and Roxanne took a deep breath, looking up at Lorcan from her seat on the couch. He reached down and gripped her hand in support, and she gave a small smile before looking around at all of her cousins.

"We were pregnant."

If the room had already been quiet, Rose wouldn't have believed it. The silence that followed her statement was deafening. Although Rose knew her aunt and uncle were still clattering around in the kitchen, even that noise seemed far away as Roxanne went on to explain what had happened.

She'd been pregnant. Roxanne and Lorcan had been expecting a baby. That was the key thing. They _had_ been. Lorcan jumped in from time to time, explaining some of the things that Roxanne had trouble saying, but all Rose could think of was how visibly heartbroken Roxanne had seemed when she was curled up on the bathroom floor.

"Yesterday was my due date," Roxanne said in a choked voice. "I sort of had a bit of a break down earlier. Uncle Bill was going on about our growing family, and I…"

She trailed off, most likely to keep herself from crying.

"Rox, I'm so sorry," said Victoire, tears running down her beautiful cheeks as she leaned on Teddy for support.

"No, no. Don't apologize," Roxanne assured her, dabbing at her eyes with the tissue someone had provided her with at some point during her tale. "I'm happy about all that. It was just an unexpected reminder of what we almost had. Even though we didn't plan it, we were happy, you know?"

The sound of sniffling now filled the silence. Fred and Ly were standing right by their twins with somber expressions. Lily was leaning on Violet, who was leaning on James. Dom was standing in front of her brother, who was gripping her shoulders as Molly and Lucy sat on the floor with their arms around each other. Hugo just looked dumbstruck. And Rose hadn't even realized it when it happened, but Al was holding her hand.

"I guess we wanted to tell you because it's important to have people around you for support and all that, but it was most likely we wouldn't have if Al and Rose hadn't stumbled upon me during my little moment earlier and stuck their noses into it," Roxanne shot an amused smile at her two cousins, and Rose was happy to see it. She was going to be alright. Everyone else seemed to gain the same reassurance, for a light chuckle sounded around the room. "Thanks for caring," said Roxanne, giving them a warm smile.

"Absolutely," said Rose with a relieved chuckle, realizing from the sound of her voice that she had been crying. She quickly blotted her face as Roxanne nodded at her brother.

"Alright," said Fred, clapping his hands together. "My sister and most likely future brother-in-law would now like the evening to commence as usual. So I do believe it's time to don your battle gear. Hop to it, soldiers!"

There was a shuffling around of people as everyone disregarded Fred's instructions for a moment and made their way over to hug either Roxanne or Lorcan. Fred rolled his eyes at the traffic jam that occurred in front of him.

"What did I just say?" he said in a bored tone, but he was ignored. Once everyone had gotten their hugs in, they did go off to change. The rest of their non family guests, besides Erin and Scorpius, had apparently been hiding in Uncle Harry's study, and came out when James hollered down the hall. It was quarter to eleven by the time they were all changed and assembled in the living room.

"Okay," said James, calling the two dozen witches and wizards in the room to attention. "We actually have an even amount this year, since dear little Charlotte Bray can't be with us. So, you know what to do. Line up in age order."

Rose practically had the teams memorized by this point. It usually went the same way every year unless someone new was added. The only person who was a hit or miss on being there was Charlotte, and she was far enough towards the bottom that it only messed with where Lily ended up.

"Alright. Alice, Lysander, Fred, Violet, Eva, Albus, Scorpius, Jill, Caleb, Hugo, Lily. You're with me," said Teddy, moving down the line and tapping every other person on the shoulder. This left Victoire, Lorcan, Roxanne, James, Dominique, Ethan, Erin, Rose, Louis, Molly, Bobby, and Lucy for the other team.

"Ground rules?" James asked Teddy, securing his knit cap on his head. Teddy nodded as he walked around the group, tapping the sleeves of his teammates with his wand so blue bands appeared around their upper arms. Victoire was doing the same for Rose's team except with red.

"Keep within the boundaries, which should be clearly marked so no excuses. If someone is captured, standard rules for rescue and release apply. No recapturing until they make it back to their territory. Each team has a flag that will need to be procured by their opponent in order to win. It must be visible to the naked eye. Snow is your only resource. Use it to build forts and weapons. No branches or other pilfered items are allowed. Vic and I are captains which means when there's any type of dispute on a rule, we can call a ceasefire to sort it out. What we say, goes. And, finally," Teddy said with a grin, tapping his own arm so a blue band with a white C appeared. "No magic, and may the best team win."

* * *

 **A/N: Christmas Eve Part 2! I hope you enjoyed it. I'm always nervous when I cover a difficult topic, and I've been the Violet in this situation, so I hope I did it well. I realize everyone has their own experiences, and I hope this feels like a real one. It's important that the people around you are able to support you, and it felt like that's what they needed to do.**

 **I debated about posting the next chapter since there's not a lot of plot progression, and had a slightly different ending for this chapter if I didn't. But it's fun and there are some moments that are subtle but I have grown attached to so you will get to read the snowball fight.**

 **And finally, I have a few Snapshots from Christmas Eve that I will post as they are mentioned or revealed through future incidents and conversations. For example, there's one from the snowball fight which helped me decide to post that chapter. The next chapter is from Ly's POV so you'll get to see what led us to the lovely encounter in the kitchen. I'm doing my best to make various types of scenes, but the next few almost feel like excuses to write characters snogging. But I'm not exactly complaining :)**

 **If you've made it this far, please review! It's great to hear from you. You're the best for joining me in this journey.**


	31. When it snows, ain't it thrilling?

**A/N: So I really hope this isn't too confusing with who's on which team, but I've copied it here just in case you want to come double check. And yes, I did give them all birthdays and arranged them in age order.**

 **I feel like I've done an okay job of making it so that there are no moments where it's unclear who is with who, so I hope you are able to follow! I realize there are a lot of people :D**

 **This chapter might not seem like it does much for the plot, but it does. It's just very subtle. Plus, I wanted them to all have a little fun. They've been a bit stressed lately. It gets back to the real world after this. Enjoy! and Review!**

 _Blue Team: Teddy, Alice, Lysander, Fred, Violet, Eva, Albus, Scorpius, Jill, Caleb, Hugo, Lily_

 _Red Team: Victoire, Lorcan, Roxanne, James, Dominique, Ethan, Erin, Rose, Louis, Molly, Bobby, Lucy_

* * *

They'd been out there for twenty minutes, and Rose had already been captured twice. Both times by a very pleased Fred. The second time, Scorpius had been taking a shift on guard duty when Rose was placed behind a wall of snow that served as her jail cell.

"Enjoying yourself?" he asked with a smirk. He was squatting next to the wall, a pile of snowballs next to him in an effort to keep her from being rescued.

"It's been a ball, really," Rose said with a roll of her eyes. She had her head poked out around the other end of the makeshift wall, searching for someone on her team. While it was incredibly dark out, there were lights from the house which helped some, but Teddy and James had charmed lanterns to hang in random locations around the yard. You could see people as they streaked across the lit areas, and there were always a few snowballs that came their way. There were random shouts and yells heard as different attacks were made.

Rose actually took the fight quite seriously. Teddy's team usually won, but Rose was determined not to let that happen this year, not that she was helping much. Her spirits lifted when she saw what looked like Ethan lurking behind a tree to her left a moment later. He had a clear shot at her. They made eye contact, and he gestured towards Scorpius, who was still looking the other direction. He'd already managed to fend off Hugo and James when they'd made attempts to get her. He was actually frighteningly good at his job. But Hugo and James weren't Aurors.

Rose smirked and nodded at Ethan, who began to creep closer. He ended up passing under a light from the house, and Scorpius must have seen his shadow out of the corner of his eye. As he started to turn, Rose did some quick thinking and grabbed an armful of snowballs that she'd made while waiting to be rescued. As soon as Scorpius was fully facing her, she started chucking them at him, most of them thankfully hitting their mark. He spluttered as one hit him in the face. By the time she was out, she could hear Ethan's footsteps as he ran up behind her, and Scorpius recovered just in time to see Ethan latch onto her arm. Scorpius let out a groan of defeat as Rose laughed and ran back across the yard to their team's side, both her and Ethan with their arms raised to show they were to be let through without capture.

"Thanks," said Rose, slightly out of breath as they slowed down once they reached their side of the playing field.

"No problem," he replied, not sounding nearly as tired as she was.

"That Auror stuff really paid off."

Ethan chuckled. "It's been pretty good to me."

"I don't know how your family does it," Rose commented. They ducked behind a tree as a round of snowballs came flying at them. Ethan quickly started making their own ammunition, Rose not far behind.

"What do you mean?" he asked, peering around the tree before launching snow at his intended target.

"Just the danger and uncertainty of it all," she said, moving to stand behind another tree that was right next to his.

"It's not that bad," he said, turning to look at her. "There are dangers, sure. But the world itself is far less dangerous for everyone else because of what we do. That's worth it to me."

Rose nodded, able to understand what he meant, but still not sure she was convinced she wouldn't panic if her own brother up and decided he wanted to join the Aurors.

"I think there's three of them and they're in our territory," said Ethan. "There's enough tree cover for us to make our way towards them, and if we hit them with enough fire power, we should be able to snag at least one."

Rose nodded, an excited grin on her face. Ethan moved and ducked a shot as he began to hurl his own in the direction it came from. Rose wasn't far behind and managed to make it to another tree without getting hit. Then Ethan was charging, pelting the others with snow, and Rose right on his heels. There was a flurry of movement as their opponents tried to respond to the unexpected heavy fire. Someone gave a yelp when Ethan nailed them in the face. They were distracted enough for him to reach them, and Rose watched as he tackled them to the ground as they tried to get away. Rose continued to pelt snow at the remaining two, but they ran off when their companion was captured, though not before Rose was able to see who it was.

"Caleb and Hugo," she said to Ethan, panting as she moved towards him. He was sitting back on his haunches with a guilty look on his face as Jill glared up at him from her position on the ground.

"And they're ruddy bastards," she grumbled, taking Ethan's proffered hand as he pulled both of them to their feet. "Bloody pushed me into the line of fire."

Rose laughed as they led Jill through the trees and to their own makeshift prison. Molly and Lucy came into view, lazily sitting on a felled tree that came up to Rose's waist.

"Not much action back here?" Rose asked as Jill moved around to the other side of the tree and leaned on it, resting her chin on her arms.

"Nope," said Lucy. "You're the first one to catch someone."

"Either of you been relieved yet?" Ethan asked. They shook their heads.

"You should give Molly a break," said Jill, giving Molly a shove so she almost toppled off the log. "Give her a peak at some action."

She was smirking as Molly looked at her with wide eyes and a clenched jaw. Jill looked at Rose with a smirk, and she immediately caught on.

"Yeah, I'm a little fed up with being captured so I'll do some guard duty," she offered. Without waiting for any arguments, Rose walked over and pulled herself onto the log. Molly looked as if she'd been betrayed, but she hopped down off the log with a sigh. Ethan looked a little nervous, but pleased as he and Molly began to make their way back through the trees, their voices carrying back to them as he asked her a question.

"Thanks for playing along, Weasley," Jill said with a grin, pulling herself up to sit on the log with Rose and Lucy, facing the opposite direction.

"That was rather devious of you," Rose said with a chuckle. "Why was she so reluctant?"

Jill gave a shrug. "You know Molly. She won't even admit she likes him, and I may have made some comments earlier about how he was probably going to try and sneak her off to a secluded corner."

Jill laughed, and Rose just shook her head in amusement. "I don't think I've ever known two best friends to be so different."

"Oh, we're not that opposite," said Jill. "We're both Ravenclaws after all. We just tend to differ in the way we like to use our wit. I might even argue I'm the wit and Molly's the intelligence."

Rose nodded in thought, and her mind went to herself and Erin. They were both Gryffindors and they both had bravery in them, but it manifested itself in different ways. Even Al and Scorpius had different ways of representing the traits of their own house. Al grumbled about the classes he didn't care for, but he was nothing if not ambitious in his desire to become an Auror, and Scorpius…

Scorpius was willing to do what he had to in order to achieve his goals. Even if it meant he made a mess of things. She knew that if he had a chance to do some of it differently, he probably would have, but his determination combined with resourcefulness and ambition had led them where they were. And the way he'd been so determined when he spoke to her the other night, well, it was starting to make it seem worth it if he was figuring out who he was.

She knew he was plenty ambitious in other ways too. There was a reason they fought each other for top marks in their classes. But she also knew people weren't purely defined by their houses. There was much more to people than that.

James showed up a few moments later with a rather disgruntled Eva in tow, depositing her behind the tree. Louis hustled over as he left, grinning as a brooding Lysander trudged behind him. Rose looked at them in delighted shock.

"How'd you manage that?"

"Beats me," Louis said with a shrug. "Dom said she'd distract him, and she just strolls right up to him and strikes up a conversation. He just stood there talking to her, and I was able to sneak up behind him."

Rose looked at Lysander, her mouth forming an O as she tried not to laugh. He gave her a panicked look and shook his head.

"Lock him up, then," was all Rose said, and Lysander looked at her gratefully. No telling what Louis would have done if he'd found out Lysander had so recently snogged his older sister.

"Hey, maybe send us some back up?" Rose hollered after Louis. "They're bound to try and get him back, and I don't think we can hold down the fort for very long."

"I can try, but we've got a good shot at winning this thing right now, and they were talking about a direct attack when I walked off."

He turned and ran off, leaving Rose to sigh in frustration. She'd been sitting on the sidelines more than she'd anticipated tonight.

"Does Ethan like Molly, then?"

Rose turned to see Lucy watching her and Jill expectantly, pulling them back to their previous conversation.

"We definitely think so," Jill said matter-of-factly. "They've been writing all term."

"I know," said Lucy, "I just wasn't sure if he was just being a friend or if he was trying to woo her or something."

Jill laughed. "Well based on the length of those letters, there bloody well better be some wooing involved."

Lucy nodded, turning to look over her shoulder and down at Eva and Ly.

"Do you know anything about this?" she asked Eva. Ethan's friend assumed an innocent look.

"I'm not allowed to say anything."

Jill let out an annoyed grunt.

The sound of footsteps in the snow had Rose shushing them. When she saw a few heads poke out from behind the trees, she reflexively shoved Jill down behind the log. Rose cringed in guilt as the younger girl let out a yelp and hit the ground.

"Sorry," she whispered, looking down at Jill, who was sprawled on top of her two teammates. Rose's momentary distraction was enough to ensure an onslaught of people. Someone gave a battle cry, and six people came rushing out of the trees, pelting them mercilessly with snowballs. Rose attempted to cover her face with her arms.

"Vi, to your right!" she heard Teddy yell, and someone streaked across the snow to Rose's left. She threw herself behind the tree for protection and looked up over the log. Al was running at the log while Lucy stood on top of it, hurling snowballs at anyone who came her way. Caleb was coming in from the direction opposite Violet, and Teddy was screaming orders for Lily and Scorpius to continue to cover them. Which meant that Hugo and Alice and Fred were the only ones covering their camp.

"Luce!" she called up to her cousin. "Their defenses have to be weak with this many here!"

"I'm on it!"

She had used up all her ammunition and hopped down, running off to find their teammates. Lucy was small and surprisingly quick enough to dodge most of the shots aimed at her. A moment later, Violet came around the corner, and Rose began mercilessly pelting her with snow. Jill gave a "Yes!" in celebration, and Rose turned to see Caleb grab her arm. This led to Violet being able to lurch forward and get a hand on Lysander.

Eva groaned in frustration, but it was short lived as Al hauled himself over the log that was no longer protected by Lucy, tapping Eva on the head before Rose could reach out to grab him.

"Got her!" Al yelled, and Rose heard the celebratory shouts of his teammates. Rose scowled as she stood from the ground, but her eyes lit up with mischief.

"Hope you left enough people on defense," she said with a smirk. Al's eyes widened comically, and he hopped back over the felled tree, Eva right on his heels. Since there was no one to protect anymore, Rose watched carefully as they ran off towards their side and deeper into the trees. Feeling a rush of victory, Rose ran in a different direction and towards her own camp.

To say the Potters had a backyard was to say Hogwarts had a dining room. It didn't do it justice. There was a wide open field right off the back of the house where they usually played Quidditch. This field eventually turned into sparse trees, which Rose was currently walking through. It gradually became much thicker woods, but the boundary ended before it got too dense.

Neither team knew where the other's home base was, other than that they were in their own territories, which was divided by a line that started at the back door and ran deep into the woods.

Ethan and Molly were sitting on a wall of snow that had been built up as a defense, though it was really a diversion. Their flag was actually a few meters to the left of it, wrapped around a tree branch that was just out of sight unless you stood directly under the tree.

"Did Lucy come find you all?" Rose asked as she continued to approach them, still a ways off. Ethan gave a nod as he responded.

"She showed up a few minutes ago and grabbed Erin. They ran off to gather the others."

Rose nodded, just as the sound of a twig snapping sounded behind her. She spun around and managed to catch sight of a blond head ducking behind a tree. So either Scorp or Ly.

"Whoever that is, you're outnumbered," she said in sing-song voice, moving towards them daringly. She heard a chuckle. Definitely Scorpius.

"I wouldn't be sure of that!"

Rose screamed as four people jumped out from behind the trees. Scorpius rushed at her, pelting her with snowballs as she tried to scrape together some ammunition of her own. Lily was hurtling towards Ethan and Molly with Caleb by her side, firing on the two mercilessly. They were able to recover enough to defend themselves, but remained on the outside of the wall. Rose managed to catch a flash of bright blond hair as Lysander came from the opposite side. He managed to slide behind the wall just as Scorpius reached Rose, grabbing her and wrapping his arms around her waist with a cry of victory.

"This is my turf," Rose growled at him. He chuckled in her ear.

"Look at your feet."

Rose looked down and kicked herself mentally when she saw the border a few steps away and realized that she had somehow managed to cross over into enemy territory. She hadn't even realized their camp was that close to the border. He held her as she struggled for a moment longer, but it was no use. The rules only required you to tag your opponents anyway. She'd have to go willingly. Still, he didn't let go.

"Third time's the charm, yeah?"

He chuckled as she looked up at him, sticking her tongue out.

"Bloody hell, it's not here!" Lysander hollered. This caused Scorpius to loosen his grip on Rose.

"What?"

Lysander came hurtling back towards them, able to get away as Lily and Caleb continued their assault on Ethan and Molly.

"It's a ruse. It must be somewhere else."

He ran past them, calling to Caleb and Lily to retreat. Rose squealed in surprise when Scorpius bent down and hoisted her over his shoulder.

"Malfoy! Put me down right now!" she screamed, simultaneously amused and embarrassed by the position she now found herself in. He just laughed.

"You're slow. It's quicker this way."

She let out a huff of annoyance when she heard Lily laughing at her.

"I have a great view of your arse, by the way."

Rose purposely said it loud enough so the others would hear her, and she got the response she wanted when they all laughed. Scorpius slowed, letting out a sigh and dropping her to her feet.

"Well played," he said, avoiding her eyes in embarrassment as they continued to follow the others.

"I wasn't complaining," said Rose, unsure where all this courage was coming from. His eyes widened and he looked at her in shock. Rose couldn't help but laugh as his cheeks turned even pinker than they already were from the cold. Things had been so tense lately, but the adrenaline and the freedom that came from running around in the cold and the dark had her momentarily forgetting about all of that.

"Oi! Keep up!" Caleb called back to them, and they took off at a jog. They made it to Rose's all too familiar prison, and she plopped down on the wall.

"Isn't this the third time tonight?" Fred asked in amusement. Rose just scowled at him.

"They've got some sort of decoy camp set up, just like us," said Lysander. "But it should be close to that. I think we're running out of other options."

Caleb gave Lysander a swift smack to the back of the head.

"What the fuck, mate?" Lysander asked, rubbing his head as he winced in pain.

"Way to just give us away," said Caleb in an annoyed tone. Lysander looked wide eyed at Rose, who was trying very hard not to grin with delight.

"Fuck," Lysander groaned, squeezing his eyes shut and tilting his head back.

"At least you didn't tell her where it is," said Fred, though he looked at his best friend disapprovingly.

"Alright," said Lily, taking charge and stepping in front of Rose. "Time to start spilling your own secrets. Tell us what you know," she commanded, pointing threateningly at Rose and scowling, their noses inches apart. Rose simply looked at her, unimpressed.

"That's not happening."

Lily dropped the interrogation idea, huffing and turning to gaze across the yard. They were in one of the open parts of the field up close to the house. Rose had to admit that it wasn't a bad place to set up camp. They could see anyone coming.

"Well, I guess we can talk a little more openly at least," Caleb pointed out. "Ted, Vi and Al went back to fake base with Jill and Eva. Lucy ran off when we all ambushed to tell her team our defenses were down so they went to warn Alice and Hugo."

"I had the clever idea to follow this one," said Scorpius, gesturing to Rose, "hoping she'd lead us to her camp. Which I'm willing to bet is close to the decoy, like you said," he gestured at Lysander.

"Guards?" Fred asked.

"Two," said Scorpius.

"Alright, you lot go get reinforcements, I'll watch this one," said Fred, and the other four headed off towards the trees.

They sat there in silence for a while, Fred's eyes scanning the surrounding area as Rose listened for any sound of movement. At one point, they heard what sounded like someone running towards her left, but they were past the light. A few minutes later, a similar sound was heard on their right, but it sounded like multiple people. Three tops, Rose would guess. With Fred's attention captured and his back to her, Rose turned back to the left to see James peeking his head out from around the side of the house. He grinned at Rose, signaling her to be quiet as more sounds of movement were heard from the other side.

As Fred took a few steps towards the noise and away from Rose, James saw his opening and came hurtling around the house as fast as his legs could carry him. Rose heard Fred turn and let out a snarl of frustration, but he didn't move to intercept James as sounds continued to come from over his shoulder. This caught her attention, and as Rose reached out towards James, she looked back over her shoulder, just in time to see Fred glancing nervously towards the area where the pool was.

James grabbed her, pulling her back towards their side and throwing some smack talk at Fred for good measure as they retreated. But Rose wasn't paying any attention to what he said. She was too caught up in what Fred had unwittingly given away as he took off towards the deck as soon as she and James had sprinted away.

"We're setting up an attack plan," said James, catching Rose's attention as they headed to their camp. "Dom and Louis managed to locate their base."

"It's wrong," said Rose, unable to contain her excitement. James looked at her in confusion.

"What?"

"They're wrong," she assured him. "Come on."

They hurried through the trees and back to their camp. Molly and Ethan were still there and had been joined by Dom, Louis, Victoire, and Lucy.

"Where are the others?" James asked as they approached.

"Lorcan and Roxanne haven't come back from playing decoy for you, and Bobby's keeping an eye on their camp," Victoire informed them.

"What about Erin?" James asked.

"She might be with Bobby," Lucy said doubtfully. "We got separated when Al and Violet ambushed us."

"Nevermind that," said Rose, growing impatient. "They did the same thing we did. It's a decoy."

"How do you know?" asked Victoire sceptically.

"Because Ly just let it slip that we did the same thing they did. And he knows it's not here," said Rose, nodding to the wall of snow that Ethan and Molly were once again perched on.

"Brilliant," Louis said with a roll of his eyes. "Anyone got any brilliant ideas as to where it could be?"

"I wasn't finished."

They all looked at Rose, a smirk growing on her face. "Our decoys did more than just allow James to save me."

* * *

"So we don't know exactly where it is," Victoire clarified. "But you know it's somewhere on the pool deck?"

"It has to be," said Rose confidently. "Fred wasn't keen on intercepting James when he had plenty of time to do so, because he heard someone moving beyond the deck. He ran to the deck as soon as James had me. He seemed much more keen on defending that than me."

Victoire gave a firm nod. "Alright. Let's do this."

They were lying on the only hill in the entire yard. It crested right at the edge of the woods and faced the house at an angle on their side of the yard. It gave them the perfect vantage point of the back of the house and the deck that surrounded the pool. Lorcan and Roxanne had joined them and said Fred had seemed determined to keep them at bay and had pelted them mercilessly before they got to the deck. They'd come running back just as everyone else was making a plan to attack. Vic sent Dom and Ethan off to find Bobby and Erin and serve as a distraction and make them think they were still going for the decoy.

Everyone else had spread out to attack from all angles. James, being the fastest, had been elected to do what he could to sprint towards their intended destination when the time came. The rest of them were tasked with the job of clearing the way for James to make his move.

Fred had back up now, but it appeared they wanted to draw as little suspicion as possible. Alice, Lily, and Jill were with him, three of the people that Rose would least expect to see as the last line of defense. Then again, they'd tried a similar diversion tactic when they sent Ethan and Dom off - two people Rose would normally have expected to make the play for the win.

Lucy moved first, coming out from her position behind a tree to fire off a few shots. It did its job, and Lily and Alice moved to investigate when the snow hit the side of the house. Then everyone was moving at once. Rose and Victoire stood with a battle cry and charged towards the house, pelting an unsuspecting Fred with snow.

Lorcan and Roxanne came from around the house and started taking shots as well, causing Lily and Alice to duck behind the wall that had served as Rose's jail cell on multiple occasions. Jill was closest to the deck, and a terrified look crossed her face as Molly came running at her, yelling and flinging snow at her with a ferocity never before seen in the sixth year Ravenclaw.

They were all taken down, and James snagged his opportunity, bolting out from the tree line and reaching the deck in record time. He grabbed onto the railing, pulled himself up, and hopped over, landing on his feet. Fred was able to realize what was happening when Rose had to pause to make more amo, and he jumped to his feet, hurtling towards James.

Rose and Victoire hurried after Fred just in time to see him tackle James. They both fell onto the tarp that covered the drained pool, which was completely unable to hold them. Rose let out a scream as they crashed to the bottom of the pool, running up to the edge with Victoire to look inside. But the two cousins seemed fine and were now wrestling with each other.

Realizing that the others were all doing a fine job of distracting their opponents, Victoire and Rose scrambled to locate the flag. As James and Fred continued to grapple, Rose started to hear people running towards them from the woods. Her scream had definitely drawn attention to them, and she could spot Scorpius, Lysander, and Violet heading their way.

"Quick!" Rose hollered at Victoire, and they doubled their efforts. She could hear them getting closer and felt for sure they'd all be caught and their team would be set back in a huge way, but that's when she spotted it.

The rule was that the flag had to be visible to the naked eye. They weren't allowed to do things like bury it in the snow or hide it in the pool under the tarp. They'd stayed within the rules, but Rose didn't think she would've been able to see it if they hadn't made it onto the deck. It was tied around one of the rails along the stairs that led up to the door that opened onto the deck. And the pool separated it from Rose.

"Vic!" Rose shouted to her cousin, pointing at the flag. Victoire was much closer and saw it as soon as she turned around. Rose heard Lysander swear, felt the deck shake as someone started running up the steps, saw Violet's head pop up as she gripped the banister and pulled herself up to look onto the deck, just as Victoire snatched the flag from around the rail.

"Yes!" Rose hollered, pumping her fist into the air and basically screaming herself hoarse as she continued to exclaim in excitement. Victoire laughed, a smile of disbelief on her face as she jumped up and down, holding the flag in the air.

"Bollocks," said Scorpius, coming to stand at Rose's side, bending down to rest his hands on his knees as he breathed heavily. She just turned and grinned at him, pumping her fists in the air once again with another shout of victory. The rest of her team that was present joined the celebrating on the deck as James and Fred pulled themselves out of the pool.

"Victory to red!" hollered James once he was on his feet, his hands cupped around his mouth as he repeated the call a few times. Immediately, everyone else began making their way out of the trees and back to the house, and they eventually spotted Bobby, Louis, Ethan, Dom, and Erin cheering, while Al, Teddy, Caleb, Hugo and Eva dragged their feet. They all gathered in the middle of the yard, Victoire joyfully waving the flag at everyone who arrived.

"Alright, alright," Teddy said with a roll of his eyes as they all circled up and the red team continued to cheer. He held up his hands, a ball of snow still in one as he called for silence.

"Congratulations. You pulled off a marvelous victory." He began a round of applause, clapping his open hand on his arm as the red team enthusiastically joined in, and the blue team begrudgingly so. The snowball fights hadn't been this intense the entire time they'd been a tradition. It wasn't until Teddy had started Auror training that he got the idea to make things interesting. Where before it had been just a night of good fun, it had turned into a competition. The first year had gone wonderfully, but the following, not so much. It had turned slightly too competitive, and a spirit of good sportsmanship had been enforced on pain of banning them from ever playing again when Harry had needed to step in and physically pull James and Al apart, which was why the losing team was required to applaud the victors. And then came one of Rose's favorite parts of the evening.

"With that being said..." began Teddy with a smirk, and rather than finish his sentence, he slung the ball of snow in his hand across the yard and hit his fiance square in the chest. After that, all hell broke loose, but there was laughter and people tackling each other to the ground as it turned into an all out war, girls against the boys.

Jill and Lily were battling with Hugo and Caleb; Teddy was chasing Victoire around the yard; James and Violet were mostly flirting, only occasionally throwing snow at each other as they dodged other people. Louis and Ethan were ganging up on Molly and Alice, and Scorpius was trying to fend off a violent Erin. Rose was in the middle of her own battle with Fred and Al when she was flanked by Lucy and Roxanne, hammering the two boys with snow. Lorcan and Lysander were at war with Dom and Eva, and Rose looked away from her battle at the sound of Dom's squeal, just in time to see Lysander pick her up and tackle her to the ground.

Erin had spotted Al throwing snow at Rose, and she charged him, jumping onto his back and shoving snow in his hair. Scorpius took up Al's open position and started in on Rose. Lucy had run off to help her sister, and Eva was trying to save Dom as Lysander hovered over her and attempted to bury her in the snow. Dom was laughing through the whole thing. Alice was laughing as well, as her brother grabbed her from behind and she reached over her shoulder to shove snow in his face. Caleb had Lily cornered, and Lily looked like she was trying to sweet talk herself out of him throwing the giant ball of snow he had in his hands at her.

Rose felt elated. She felt none of the stress of school or the future. There was just this moment and these people and this night. Whatever else happened, they'd all be fine. They had each other, and no matter the scuffles and the wars and the battles and the fights, she knew that every last one of them would be there for her, and she for them.

As they entered the house a little while later, covered in snow and exhausted, Hugo caught everyone's attention.

"Hey, it's past midnight." He smiled, and Rose saw the same expression mirrored on everyone else's faces as they looked around the room, all of them immediately wishing each other a Happy Christmas.


	32. Away from all the fears

He couldn't stop fidgeting, his eyes moving nervously around the room. The holidays had gone much faster than Scorpius had anticipated, even with the added tension that came with his misdeeds at the end of term. There were only a few short days left until he had to board the train back to Hogwarts, which meant he was running out of time to talk to his parents about his plans for the future. Teddy and Victoire's wedding was tomorrow, and then Scorpius was spending the remainder of the holiday at the Potters', so it was now or never.

"Will you stop that?" Al asked, looking pointedly at the quill Scorpius had been absentmindedly tapping on the table. He gave his friend an apologetic look, setting the quill down. Sitting back in his chair, he ran his sweaty palms over his thighs and took a deep breath.

"Are you actually going to work on any of this?"

Scorpius looked at the stack of parchment in front of him that Al gestured to. He was already halfway through his application, but Scorpius had stopped a few pages in when he couldn't go any further unless he talked to his parents.

"I will," he assured Al. "But they need a copy of my birth certificate and my O.W.L. scores, and I don't know where my mum keeps those."

"So?" Al asked, his quill continuing to move across the parchment in front of him. "Go ask her for them."

He glared at Al, who looked up when he felt his gaze.

"You'll have to tell them eventually, and who's to stop them from coming in here at any moment and asking questions? Might as well do it on your own terms."

Conceding that his friend had a point, Scorpius took one more deep breath before he stood. They were in a room in the wing of the Manor that basically belonged to Scorpius, and this particular one served as a type of library for him. It was where he'd done his schooling before he went to Hogwarts. At first, the plan had been for Scorpius to wait till he went to the Potters' to fill out the forms, but he still hadn't told anyone except Al that he was even applying, and you never knew who might randomly show up at Potter Manor. Al had come over after breakfast with two sets of applications in tow, Flooing directly into Scorpius' room. He had almost told his parents at breakfast, but had lost his nerve when his mother had asked him once again if he'd heard anything from the Headmistress.

They hadn't been pleased when McGonagall wrote to inform them that their son's position of Head Boy was in jeopardy. Astoria had questioned Scorpius for far too long about what he could have possibly been thinking. Draco had expressed his disappointment, but pointed out that if Potter hadn't been expelled for slashing him to pieces when they were in school, Scorpius would probably be allowed to keep his position of Head Boy if the only things he was guilty of were breaking curfew and sneaking liquor. This had actually been a bit of a comfort to Scorpius, until his mother had pointed out that those were different times.

One thing Scorpius didn't want to think about, was how his potential dismissal as Head Boy could affect his chances of being accepted into the Auror Academy. And he knew his mother was going to raise the question as soon as he told them he was planning to apply.

He reluctantly made his way down the stairs and towards the lounge his parents usually sat in after breakfast and found them exactly as he expected to. His father was still perusing the day's _Daily Prophet_ , and his mother was sorting out the menu for the following week. They shared a couch, and his mother was stretched out across it so her socked feet rested up against her husband's leg. Scorpius was thankful that his parents didn't enforce the stuffy dress that most purebloods seemed to be fond of. It was only occasionally in a public setting that Draco and Astoria would don their formal black robes that showed their so-called status. His mother hated them, and his father didn't seem too fond of them either, so his parents usually lounged around the house in much more comfortable attire than most people probably would have expected. This particular morning, his mother wore jeans and a hooded Ravenclaw sweatshirt, while his father looked a little more put together in dark slacks and a collared shirt. Scorpius recalled him saying something at breakfast about a meeting at the Ministry later in the day. It probably had to do with the ongoing investigation into the black market potions ring.

Scorpius thought back to Christmas Eve, when he had gone into his father's study and told him everything. He told him about the issues he'd been facing with Shepard all term and how it had affected the decisions he'd made. How it had caused him to question so much about who he was and what exactly defined him. His father listened with rapt attention as Scorpius poured out every insecurity he'd ever felt over the last few months, and there was something incredibly freeing about telling all of that to someone who actually knew what it was like to be a Malfoy. Scorpius made sure his father knew he didn't blame him for what had happened with Shepard's sister and how it had in turn affected him. That was the last thing he wanted his father to believe. He didn't want him thinking he resented the fact that he was a Malfoy. Draco had been quick to stop him from going any further when he'd started apologizing for appearing ungrateful.

"Scorpius, you are probably the least ungrateful person I've ever met," Draco had assured him. "I'm sorry you were saddled with the burden that is the Malfoy name, but you've shown remarkable strength in the way you've carried it."

Scorpius had looked at him uncertainly, thinking over everything he'd just told his father and wondering how he could possibly think that was true.

"Son, everyone second guesses themselves," his father had continued. "And you were never as purely Slytherin as I was, so I can understand why you've struggled with that. You're compassionate and strong and you look out for others. Part of me always wondered why the hat made the choice it did, but I think I can see it now. People tend to look at the defining characteristics of a house in terms of accomplishments in an academic or professional sense, and maybe those qualities show themselves that way in you. But your ambition to be the best version of yourself? Even when you mess up, pushing through to achieve? You're the kind of Slytherin I wish I had been when I was at Hogwarts. We tend to make calculated decisions based on the best outcome for ourselves, but I've seen you do that with others in mind. It was all over everything you just told me. So be proud of yourself, Scorpius. You've grown a lot more than you think."

It had been what helped him see sense even more. He'd been determined on the train ride home, but it had turned into resolve and even more confidence after he'd talked with his father. And now he had to channel all of that into the conversation he was about to have.

Taking a deep breath, he lightly rapped his knuckles on the open door to gain his parents' attention before stepping into the lounge. His mother gave him a smile in greeting, apparently not noticing how nervous he was, but his father took one look at him and folded up his paper.

"Is this about whatever Al's here for?" his father asked in a casual tone. Scorpius grimaced. He'd forgotten that his parents put in an alert system on his Floo after he'd turned sixteen. The embarrassing conversation he'd had with his mother about how she didn't want him to wind up with a pregnant girlfriend had been a memory he'd suppressed. This was the first time he'd actually snuck someone in.

"Yeah, sorry," he said. "I figured it wouldn't be a big deal since he's not my girlfriend."

Draco smirked at this, but Astoria's eyes lit up. "You have one, then? A girlfriend?"

Scorpius rolled his eyes and rubbed his hand over his face in an effort to hide it. "No, Mum. No girlfriend."

She seemed disappointed, as she always was when he answered that question the same way every time.

"There's something I need to talk to you about," said Scorpius. He now had their full attention, his mother looking at him curiously, his father shrewdly. "I'll be graduating soon, so I've been thinking a lot about what I'd like to do after Hogwarts."

Scorpius shot a nervous glance at his father before he continued. He knew this first part would be harder for him, while the second would be difficult for his mother.

"Dad, I know I helped you out with the business this summer, and I really learned a lot. Working with you was great, and I really appreciated the opportunity. But…"

His father gave him the smallest of smiles, and he knew it was alright to continue.

"But I also learned this past summer, that it's not what I want to do."

He paused to gauge their reactions, and while his father seemed understanding, there was an element of disappointment in his eyes.

"This isn't about what happened with the Shepards either," he was quick to clarify. "I just…"

Draco let out a sigh, stretching his arm out along the back of the couch. "I know you're not ashamed of me," he assured his son. "You don't have to choose a certain path just because you're afraid of disappointing us if you don't."

Scorpius gave him a grateful nod, but hesitated. His mother had barely shown any emotion as he spoke, and he knew she was about to.

"I'm assuming you've decided there's something else you'd rather do?" Draco prodded. Scorpius' gaze shifted between the two of them as he braced himself.

"That's why Al's here. We're filling out our applications together."

It wasn't a secret that Albus Potter wanted to become an Auror, and Scorpius knew that very well. He saw understanding grow on both his parents' features in different ways. His father's eyes widened in surprise, but he didn't seem disappointed. His mother, however, responded exactly how he expected.

"No," she said, rising from the couch and placing her hands on her hips. Her small stature would have made the sight comical if Scorpius didn't have an inherent fear of disappointing his mother. "No, I'll not allow it."

"Mum-"

"No, Scorpius!" she insisted, fists now clenched at her sides. "What business do you have throwing yourself into harm's way?"

"Astoria-"

"Tell him, Draco," she said, turning to her husband but pointing at her son. "Tell him this family has been pulled apart enough and that it can't happen again just because he's got some crazy idea in his head that could potentially get him killed."

"Astoria, that's enough."

It was rare that Draco actually put his foot down when it came to his wife, but Scorpius was thankful he'd done so this time. She still looked extremely unhappy and remained standing, but she quieted down and appeared calmer. Scorpius turned his attention to his father.

"How long have you wanted to do this?" Draco asked pragmatically.

"I'm not sure," said Scorpius, wishing he had a better answer. "But I know it's not a whim. I think it's been in the back of my head for a while, but I've been afraid of disappointing you, so I didn't really entertain the idea till this term."

Draco nodded, and Scorpius knew he was understood without having to elaborate. One of the things he'd told his father on Christmas Eve was how much he'd started to think about the things that he actually wanted. Realising that he wanted to pursue a career as an Auror had been an unforeseen outcome. If he were honest, he probably hadn't fully realized it until after he'd punched Shepard in the corridor. Rose had said he was the one who got to decide who he wanted to be. He'd thought about that long and hard later that night, and it had just come to him from the recesses of his mind, almost as if it had been there all along but he'd been denying it. The more he'd thought about it in the weeks since then, the more sure he grew of his decision.

"And this has nothing to do with the fact that Al's doing the same thing?" asked Draco.

"No," Scorpius said with a shake of his head. "I was actually worried he wouldn't like the idea, but he's been extremely supportive. He probably would've walked me down here to talk to you if I hadn't managed to work up the courage to do it myself."

Draco nodded, his face losing the hard edges that had appeared when he began questioning his son. "Who else knows about this?"

"Just Al. And Professor Simpson. He gave us our transcripts from sixth year and has to write letters of recommendation as our Head of House."

"Scorpius, what happens if they take your badge?" his mother asked, worry still etched on her face.

"I don't know if it will affect my chances," he told her honestly. "But I'll regret it if I don't try anyway."

They were silent for a moment, and he could tell his mother still wanted to fight him on it.

"Mum," he began, softly. She looked up at him, and he saw all the love she had for him in her eyes, as well as her fears. "I understand that you're scared. There's a part of me that is too. But the world's a different place than it once was. I won't be facing the same dangers that the Aurors faced during the war."

She gave a sharp intake of breath, and Scorpius realized that was the first time he'd actually said what he wanted to be. They'd known, but there was something about putting the name to it that made it real.

"I want to help continue to keep this family whole," he continued. "And I believe this is the best way for me to do that."

"Scorpius," his mother began, her eyes searching his face as she stepped towards him and gripped his hands. "This isn't some noble attempt at redemption, is it? Because I won't allow you to make a decision based on the fact that you might think this family owes the wizarding world some type of debt."

He was shaking his head before she even finished. "This isn't about that at all." He looked over her shoulder and at his father, who was now standing as well. "If you could have chosen to do anything once you'd left Hogwarts, anything at all, what would it have been?"

Draco seemed taken aback by this question, but his answer came easily. "Healing. After the war ended and I finished my N.E.W.T.s, I wanted to be a Healer."

His mother looked at his father, and it was obvious this had never come up before. Along with the family's fall from grace, Draco had been under house arrest at the time, so a career like that wouldn't have been possible.

"Mum?"

Astoria looked back at her son, and she knew she'd lost the argument.

"I have the opportunity to be whoever I want. I'm not going to waste that."

Scorpius felt relieved to see the soft small that appeared on his mother's lips. She reached a hand up to cup his cheek. "You've really grown up well, haven't you?"

He smiled at his mother, before pulling her into a tight hug.

"I hope you know I'm going to be worried all the time, and you'll have to write to me everyday so I know you're safe."

Scorpius chuckled as he released her. "I'll do my best."

His eyes met his father's as Draco stepped forward and put an arm around his wife, who was beginning to get teary eyed. "I'm proud of you, son. We both are."

He stuck his hand out, and Scorpius shook it, smiling brightly as the pride his father was referring to was obvious by the way Draco looked at his son. It changed into a smirk a moment later.

"When do you plan on telling Rose?"

Scorpius audibly gulped, his smile falling from his face as his father chuckled in amusement. He didn't see any point in denying that filling Rose in was an important step. If his father hadn't been aware of Scorpius' feelings before, their conversation on Christmas Eve had almost certainly given it away. "I thought it might be best to wait until it's a sure thing. I haven't even been accepted yet."

His father gave him a shrewd look. "Trust me when I say that the longer you wait, the less upset she'll be about what you're actually telling her, and the more upset she'll be about the fact that you didn't trust her enough to tell her sooner."

Scorpius grimaced, knowing his father had a point.

"What's this have to do with Rose?" his mother asked, and Scorpius gave his father a pleading look when his mother took her eyes off him. Draco smirked.

"Nothing. At least not yet, anyway."

Scorpius was able to escape quickly after that, with his mother promising that she'd find the documents he needed and send them up to him. He hurried up the stairs, feeling lighter than he had in days. There was now one less thing he had to worry about.

"Well?" Al asked as Scorpius entered the room, closing the door behind him. He smiled at his best friend.

"It wasn't perfect, but they're on board."

Al gave a triumphant smirk and Scorpius rolled his eyes as he moved to resume his place at the table. "Don't go saying 'I told you so'."

His friend just chuckled, reaching into the bookbag he'd carried the applications in and pulling out what looked like a letter.

"So, I went to Neville for my second recommendation letter, seeing as I can't exactly ask a family member for one and the Ministry is crawling with them," Al began, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "I'm sure Neville would have been happy to do one for you as well, but I thought this might work in your favor even more."

He handed over the letter he was holding, and Scorpius looked at him in question before unfolding the parchment that had yet to be sealed. His eyes scanned the letter, which did nothing but speak highly of who Scorpius was as a person and his accomplishments. It ended with a firm recommendation that Scorpius be accepted into the Auror Academy, and the signature left him momentarily speechless. Eventually, he was able to pull his eyes away from the letter to look at Al, who was smirking proudly.

"How the hell did you pull this off?" Scorpius asked, still hardly daring to believe that he actually held a letter of recommendation from the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

"Come on," said Al as if it were no big deal. "Dad's always liked you, and he practically insisted he do it when I mentioned it to him."

"You told him I was applying?"

Al just looked at him for a moment as if he wasn't sure Scorpius was right in the head. "Yeah, Scor. I had to tell him so he could write the letter."

Scorpius' eyes widened in panic.

"Relax," Al assured him, going back to working on his application. "I told him not to tell anyone, and I only talked to him about it last night. I knew you'd have to tell your parents today anyway, so it's not like it'll be a secret for much longer."

He had a point, but Scorpius still couldn't quite believe that he basically had an assurance that, if he passed all his N.E.W.T.s, he'd be accepted into the Auror Academy.

"Thanks, Al,' said Scorpius, looking at him sincerely. Al gave a nod, a pleased look on his face.

"You're welcome. Now get cracking. I'm over halfway done already, and those forms won't get fill out themselves."

* * *

 **A/N: Decided to save this one for today since I thought it would be appropriate. To all you wonderful dad's out there who support our dreams, you're he best. Happy Father's Day.**


	33. Something in the way she moves

The week after Christmas was filled with wedding preparations for the Weasley Family. When Teddy and Victoire had originally planned to get married, the ceremony was going to take place in the spring when they could have done it at Shell Cottage, Victoire's childhood home. Instead, they had gone with their second choice and decided to have it at the Burrow, just like her parents had.

Rose's grandparents home had become wedding central. The decorations and food prep had been going on all week, and while the days leading up to the wedding had been full of preparations, it had been full of celebrating as well. The day after Christmas, the bridal parties and then some had reserved the Leaky Cauldron for a private party, and then the girls had all gone to Violet's for their own private hen night, while the boys had done a stag do at James, Ly, and Fred's flat for Teddy. A few days later, Victoire and her bridesmaids spent the night before the wedding at the Burrow, and now the day was finally here.

Alice, Roxanne, Dom, Rose, and Lily were all wearing dresses that were a deep shade of purple. The sleeves were long and covered Rose's wrists. It was made of material that was soft and warm and hugged her curves before it fell straight to flutter around her ankles, almost covering the elegant gold flats they were all wearing. The neckline was a simple V that revealed her collarbone, but not much else. It was the perfect color that flattered all of them equally, which Rose was thankful for. Victoire's favorite color was yellow, so she'd been nervous her cousin would pick something that would clash atrociously with her hair and skin tone. She should have known better than to doubt Victoire's taste.

They were all getting ready in the largest bedroom, which used to belong to Bill and Charlie. The wedding was only two hours away when a knock sounded on the door.

"Rose, do you mind?" asked Victoire, who was in the middle of getting her hair done by Rose's mother while Fleur charmed her nails to be a soft pearl tone. Making sure everyone was decent, Rose cracked the door open and smiled when she saw her father.

"Hermione?" he said when Rose let him step halfway into the room. "Mum said there should be more candles for the tables and that we were supposed to bring them, but I've got no bloody clue what she's talking about."

Hermione paused in her task and looked over her shoulder at her husband. Rose could tell by the look she gave him that this was information she expected him to know.

"Really, Ron? You brought them here yourself. They were in one of those boxes I had you carry."

When he still looked clueless, Rose took pity on him.

"I've got time, so I'll go help him look," she offered. Her mother gave her a grateful smile.

"You know what they look like?"

Rose nodded and followed her father out of the room and down the stairs. There were almost a dozen people moving through the house making last minute preparations. Rose helped her dad dig through stacks of boxes until they found the one they were looking for. She was about to return upstairs when Teddy called her name and hurried over to her, his manner jittery.

"How're you holding up?" Rose asked, looking him over as he pulled on the sleeves of his jacket. Victoire had been to the wedding of a Muggle friend from the classes she'd been taking, and she'd gotten the idea for Teddy and his groomsmen to wear Muggle suits. Rose wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the cousins copied the idea. Teddy looked incredibly handsome, his suit a dark charcoal gray and his shirt a dark navy. It went better with the bridesmaids dresses than Rose had expected. They had opted out of doing the bow ties that Teddy had originally picked, giving it a more casual look. Rose was also pleased to see that Victoire had allowed Teddy to keep his usual turquoise hair.

"I'm alright," he said, his eyes glancing up the stairs behind her. "How is she?"

Rose grinned at him. Teddy hadn't seen Victoire since the night before, and the bride had warned them that he would most likely try and see her before the wedding.

"She's good, Ted. Relax. This is the best day of your life, yeah?"

Teddy let out a deep breath, shaking his head in what was most likely an attempt to clear it. "Sorry, it's just weird not to see her. Do me a favor?"

Rose nodded as Teddy reached into his jacket pocket. He handed over a small box and a note. "These," he said with a smile, "are for my lovely future wife. Make sure she gets them?"

Rose nodded just as Al entered from the pavilion outside, moving towards his godbrother. He was dressed the same as Teddy, save the jacket, and his hair was actually reasonably well tamed.

"They want to get a few pictures of the groomsmen," he said as he approached Teddy before he turned his attention to Rose.

"Shouldn't you be dressed?" asked Al, giving her a once over. She had her hair pulled into a plait that wrapped around the side of her head and fell over her shoulder, and had even managed to put on most of her makeup, but she was still in her bathrobe.

"I had some things to do. Shouldn't you be keeping an eye on the groom? You're lucky I was here, otherwise he might have made a dash for the stairs."

A guilty look crossed Teddy's face as Rose hurried back up the stairs, the sound of Al telling off his godbrother fading behind her.

Teddy had handed Rose what turned out to be a simple pearl on a gold strand for Victoire to wear around her neck. It fit perfectly with her dress, which was ivory and strapless with a sweetheart neckline and made of a soft satin material. It was simple and elegant, very much like Victoire. The most extravagant part was the long train that flowed out at least eight feet behind her. Hermione had done Victoire's hair up in an elegant bun, a few braids running through it. The necklace served to perfectly compliment the simple pearl earrings and bracelet she was wearing, which made sense when she informed them those were a Christmas gift from Teddy.

An hour later, the guests had arrived and were seated, and Teddy and his groomsmen were out behind the shed and ready to enter as soon as the music began. Victoire, her father, and the bridesmaids were just inside the back door of the Burrow. The air was alight with energy as the girls all lined up to enter the pavilion. A warming charm had been placed, but the occasional cool breeze would waft in, reminding them that it was the last day of December. The sun was starting to set on the other side of the Burrow, casting the pavilion in a warm glow. The aisle was covered in white rose petals that matched the bouquets Victoire and the bridesmaids were carrying, and candles floated above them in the white canopy that covered the guests and the alter.

As the music started up, Rose heard Victoire give a sharp intake of breath, and she looked over her shoulder to see Dom gripping her sister's hand with a smile on her face as Victoire looked like she couldn't believe this was finally happening. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, opening them and taking in all of her bridesmaids looking back at her.

"Thank you," she said with a smile. "Are you all ready?"

Lily looked at her with amused incredulity. "I think we should be asking you that."

They all shared a laugh, smiles beaming on all their faces. As the music changed, Victoire grew nervous once again, and her father tucked her arm in his, kissing the top of her head. She calmed immediately and smiled up at him, and Uncle Bill's scars were almost nonexistent as he looked lovingly at his eldest daughter.

Lily was the first to walk down the aisle, and she held herself in a way that seemed older than her fifteen years. Her short hair was curled in soft ringlets that caught the light beautifully. Once she reached the front, Rose came in behind her. She took in the scene before her. Teddy had his hands clasped in front of him as he gave her a nervous smile. Harry stood right next to his godson, beaming proudly. James, Al, Louis, and Malcolm were lined up behind him, all looking handsome in their nice slacks and shirts. Rose turned to face the guests when she reached the front.

As the rest of the bridesmaids made their way in, she scanned the crowd. Her grandparents were sitting in the front along with Ginny and Fleur, a seat saved next to her for Bill. Rose's parents were on the other side of Arthur and Molly, tears already in Hermione's eyes. Behind them were rows of other family members, and Rose was somewhat surprised to see the Malfoy family at the end of one of the rows of Weasleys. It warmed her heart knowing that their placement had most likely been Teddy's doing. They were his only blood family present, and Narcissa Malfoy actually had a small smile on her face. But Rose's eyes went straight to Scorpius. He was dressed very similar to the groomsmen, but his shirt was a dark green. His short blond hair still had a ruffled look to it, in contrast to the slicked look of his father's. It was one of the few things that distinguish them from each other. Rose smiled as his eyes met hers, and he returned it.

Dominique made it to the end of the aisle, stood only feet away from her soon to be brother-in-law, and then the crowd was on their feet as Victoire made her way down the aisle, more radiant than she had ever been, and fully beaming at her fiancé, all traces of nerves gone. Rose glanced at Teddy to see his face mirroring Victoire's as she walked towards him.

The ceremony was beautiful, but held a twinge of bittersweet. There was hardly a dry eye when tribute was given to Teddy's parents and grandmother. It was hard to imagine what that could possibly feel like, and Rose felt tears gather in her eyes as she tried to imagine a day like this in her future and her loving parents not being a part of it. She wished above anything that Teddy's parents could have been there, but she loved her family for loving Teddy like he was one of their own. And now he actually was.

There were cheers and wolf whistles as the bride kissed the groom and they were declared bonded for life. They practically ran back down the aisle, and Rose soon found herself swept up in the procession going out behind them. By the time they all reached the house, a circle had been formed around Teddy and Victoire, who had their arms around each other as their friends and family members cheered loudly. Victoire's head was thrown back in laughter as Teddy just grinned down at her. James started chanting for them to kiss, and soon the rest of the bridal party had joined in. Victoire smiled up at her new husband, her brow raised in a challenge, and that was all the encouragement Teddy needed to lift her off her feet and kiss her soundly. They all cheered once again before the photographer came over and took a few shots before breaking up the party, and they stepped outside to a small hill that had a beautiful view of the surrounding fields of the Burrow behind it. By the time they were done, the back yard had been rearranged for the reception, and the guests were already sitting around the tables and enjoying the delicious food that had been meticulously planned and prepared. There was a table set aside for the bride and groom, but everyone else was free to sit where they wanted as they enjoyed their dinner, with dancing to follow.

"Where'd Alice go?" asked Erin, scanning the bridal party as Rose and Al sat on either side of her after getting their food. She, Hugo, and Charlotte had saved seats for them as well as Lily.

"I don't know," said Rose, having not realized that Alice failed to join the reception. She'd seemed fine throughout the day, so it probably wasn't anything to be concerned about. "Bathroom, maybe?"

Erin gave an uncertain shrug and went back to her food.

"You look nice," Al said with a small smile, planting a kiss on Erin's cheek while she chewed her food. She really did look lovely in a long sleeve dark gray dress that actually matched perfectly with the groomsmen attire. A pleased yet confused look appeared on her face as she swallowed.

"Thanks. So do you," said Erin, just as Scorpius slid into the seat next to Rose.

"My grandmother is talking to _your_ grandmother, and I don't think I ever saw that coming," Scorpius told Rose, and they all turned to see that Narcissa Malfoy was in fact in conversation with Molly Weasley, and the two seemed to be getting along.

"Didn't Grandma Molly kill her sister?"

Erin gave Al a kick and a scowl for his lack of tact, but Scorpius just chuckled. "Yes, she did, but Bellatrix was a psychopath. Grandma Molly was friends with Aunt Andromeda too, right?"

"Fair point," said Hugo from the other side of the table, and the conversation was mostly dropped.

"I think it's kind of nice our families can get along," said Scorpius in an undertone to Rose. She smiled slightly at the pleased look on his face while he ate his dinner, but she felt unsettled. Things had been alright between them since they'd talked things out on the roof of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, but they weren't back to normal. They'd hardly spent any time together at the Christmas Eve party, save when they all swapped gifts. The snowball fight had been fine, but Rose didn't think she'd feel completely at ease until there was a decision made by Professor McGonagall. And even though they'd talked about what _had_ happened, she felt there would continue to be a giant elephant in the room until they talked about what _could_ happen.

After dinner, Teddy and Victoire took to the large wooden floor in the center of the pavillion for their first dance as husband and wife. They were soon joined by Harry and Ginny and Bill and Fleur, and the dancing portion of the evening was in full swing not long after. Al had pulled a flustered Erin onto the dance floor at the first opportunity, and Charlotte actually managed to talk Hugo into the same. Rose was soon left with Scorpius and an almost sulking Lily, who was gazing out at the dance floor with a far off look in her eyes. Rose's attention was pulled away from her cousin when Scorpius said her name. She looked at him expectantly, and he jerked his head towards the dance floor, looking hopeful.

"Actually, I think we should talk," Rose couldn't help but say. A bit of frustration appeared on his face at her words, but he smirked playfully.

"Can't you talk and dance at the same time, Weasley?"

Rose couldn't help but chuckle as he held out his hand to her. She gave an amused shake of her head and was just about to take his hand when Lily spoke up.

"Bloody hell, just go," she said, seeming thoroughly annoyed with their exchange. Rose looked at Lily in slight surprise and concern, but chose to take Scorpius' hand rather than respond. He led her out onto the dance floor, where many of her family members were already enjoying themselves. Violet and James were barely moving as they simply looked into each others eyes, while Lysander was practically throwing a laughing Dominique around the dance floor. Rose's parents were dancing next to Harry and Ginny, and her dad seemed to be entertaining them all with some type of story.

Scorpius effortlessly pulled her into his arms when they reached the edge of the crowd of dancers, one hand holding hers and the other resting on her side. He expertly set a pace in time with the moderately tempoed music. She looked up at him in a bit of surprise as her hand landed on his shoulder.

"You're good at this."

Scorpius chuckled, looking down at her impressed expression. "Mum made me take a few lessons once. Guess it stuck with me a bit."

They danced in silence for a few minutes, and Rose found it more difficult to break the peaceful moment the longer it carried on.

"I'm guessing you wanted to talk because you're worried about what comes next?" asked Scorpius, bringing his eyes that had been scanning the crowd back to hers.

"As far as McGonagall's decision?" clarified Rose, and he nodded. "I just want to talk about how we would handle it if it's not in your favor."

Scorpius looked away from Rose, but she didn't let it deter her.

"If she takes your badge," Rose continued, "she'll make someone else Head Boy, and I'll have to work with him the rest of the school year, and you and I will have these awkward moments when I have to go to meetings or spend time working on Head duties with Macmillan or Davies. It's going to be uncomfortable."

Scorpius let out a sigh, looking down at her again. "Have I mentioned I'm sorry I got us into this mess?"

Rose looked away from his sorrow filled eyes, letting out a huff. Her eyes snapped back to his as his thumb lightly stroked her side, and his gaze was strong.

"We've gotten through a lot this year already, yeah?"

She nodded, listening closely.

"Who's to say we can't get through a little more?"

Rose took in his optimistic gaze, and she shook her head in fondness and a hint of frustration. "I didn't want to have to go through a little more."

His hopeful look faded a bit, and it killed her that her honesty made him look that way. She moved slightly closer to him. "Remember what you said after the Halloween party?"

Scorpius nodded, his cheeks flushing with a little bit of pink at the memory of what they'd almost said to each other.

"I'm tired of things getting in the way," she said strongly. "It's beyond frustrating that we keep making decisions that push us away from each other."

"You know it's mostly been me, right?" said Scorpius. He wasn't mopy about the fact. He was owning it. "Believe me, I'm just as frustrated with myself as you are. I hate being responsible for making you feel like you can't count on me, especially when I've given you proof that you can't, in fact, count on me."

He was beginning to grow agitated, and his eyes weren't staying on her. The song changed to a slightly slower one, and Rose took the opportunity to do what she could to reassure him. Stepping even closer, she dropped his hand and brought hers up to his shoulder. His now free hand instinctively moved to her waist, and his brow rose in question at the tender look she gave him.

"Scorpius, it's human to make mistakes. We've all made our fair share of them. Am I disappointed with some of the recent choices you've made? Yes, but," she continued when he cringed at her words, "the way you've owned everything and the confidence I've seen in you this week? It shows the type of person you actually are. You don't just make mistakes and let them dictate your life. You learn from them and you grow and you do everything you can to do better next time. If making those mistakes is helping you become a better person, then I can't be too disappointed in you. For everything you've done wrong, you've managed to do a thousand things right. Don't discount those things."

A small smile formed on Scorpius' lips, and his eyes showed something she couldn't quite name, but it made her spine tingle as his hands gripped her slightly tighter.

"You realize I don't deserve you, right?"

Rose gave a nervous chuckle, and she knew some color had risen to her cheeks.

"Everyone deserves friends," said Rose, willing herself to maintain eye contact.

Scorpius' smile turned into a smirk. "You know what I mean."

"Do I?" she asked in a teasing tone, deciding to keep it light hearted. He laughed, grinning down at her.

"You're daft if you-"

Something had grabbed his attention from somewhere behind Rose, and he'd cut himself off as concern grew on his face. Rose looked over her shoulder to see what the problem was, and her eyes widened in shock to see Teddy and Malcolm in what appeared to be a rather heated argument with another young wizard around their age. Victoire was nowhere in sight.

"Do you know what's going on?" Rose asked, looking back at Scorpius. He shook his head, eyes still on his cousin and their professor. Turning so they could both see, Scorpius directed them closer to the commotion that was being caused by the groom and one of his groomsmen. By the time they were in hearing range, Harry had joined them as well.

"And you have no right to go anywhere near her," Malcolm was saying, his words coming out more harshly than Rose could have imagined him capable of.

"Fuck off, Bray," the unknown wizard said. "This is none of your concern."

He was about as tall as Teddy, and his hair was a sandy blond that was cropped short. Rose had to admit that he was actually rather handsome, but she couldn't place him. Harry gave him a stern look.

"Watch it, Smith," Harry snapped at him. "You will not cause a scene at my family's home in the middle of a wedding. I don't want to have you removed, but I will if I have to."

"I'm not the one causing a scene, sir," Smith said with a snarl. "I was just minding my own business when this prick decided to get in my face." He gestured to Malcolm, who continued to scowl at him. Teddy didn't look pleased either, but had the presence of mind to hold Malcolm back.

"I know a rather upset witch who'd beg to differ," said Malcolm, and Rose and Scorpius shared a look of concern. Smith looked like he was about to respond, but Teddy spoke up.

"Liam, just leave, alright? We'll talk about this later."

The young wizard seemed to want to argue for a second, but he gave a stiff nod, throwing a congratulations at Teddy before walking off the property. Harry immediately turned towards his godson.

"What the hell happened?"

"It was Alice," said Teddy. "Apparently they have a rough history and he's mostly to blame. I had no clue until today."

Harry's brow was furrowed in concern. "Did he do something to her?"

"We don't know the whole story," said Malcolm. "Victoire only said they dated at Hogwarts and he took advantage before she ran off after Alice. I think he was a little drunk and tried a little too hard to talk to her tonight."

Harry nodded. "Should we find Neville and Hannah?"

Teddy shrugged in uncertainty as Malcolm's eyes landed on Rose and Scorpius, who were now hardly even dancing as they didn't even try to hide that they were listening. Malcolm seemed relieved to see her.

"I have a better idea," he said to Harry, and then he was moving towards them. "Rose, do you know where Erin is?"

"No, but I can find her," she said at once. They released each other, but Scorpius kept a hand on her back as Malcolm nodded.

"Okay. They went into the house and I'm going to go check on Alice, but I think you should get Erin."

Rose gave a firm nod, and Malcolm rushed off. Harry and Teddy now seemed rather confused as they watched the young professor make his way through the crowd of people.

"They snogged once," said Scorpius, and Rose gave him a firm smack to the chest.

"We'll go find Erin," said Rose to a rather amused Harry and shocked Teddy. Grabbing Scorpius' hand, Rose began to weave her way through the crowd of dancers, spotting Al and Erin on the far side of the dance floor. She approached them quickly, and Erin looked at Rose in question when she saw her coming toward them, evidently on a mission.

"What's going on?" Al asked as they reached them.

"It's Alice," said Rose, looking between the two of them. "Something happened with someone named Liam Smith, and apparently she's pretty upset."

At the mention of his name, Erin's entire face morphed into anger. Her jaw clenched and her eyes hardened. Al seemed just as out of the loop as Rose and Scorpius.

"Where is she?" asked Erin.

"In the house, but-"

Rose didn't have a chance to continue as Erin immediately took off towards the house, the other three quick on her heels. Alice wasn't in the living room, and Erin quickly made her way up the stairs, leaving Rose, Al, and Scorpius uncertain if they should follow.

"Maybe we should wait down here," Scorpius suggested, and when Erin didn't give any sign that she wanted them to follow, they made themselves comfortable in the living room, or at least tried to. Rose and Scorpius sat on one of the couches, but Al kept sitting in an armchair before getting up and pacing towards the stairs, looking up them for a moment before moving back to resume his previous position. Scorpius eventually offered to play him in a game of chess, which seemed to calm him down.

"Victoire's up there," Rose suddenly said after they'd been in there for almost twenty minutes. "They'll need her to cut the cake soon."

The boys didn't say anything, continuing with their game.

"Liam's an Auror," Al said in a quiet tone a short time later. "Do you think he's the prick that used her back when she was in fifth year?"

"I can't think of anyone else that would make Erin react that way," said Rose, unable to believe what rotten luck that was. Teddy wasn't at Hogwarts when Alice was in fifth year, and it was likely he wasn't aware of what had gone on. Not many people did. Victoire would have kept it quiet for the sake of her friend.

They all turned toward the back door as Ginny walked in.

"Harry told me what happened, but people are asking questions and we sort of need Victoire."

Rose nodded, standing up from the couch. "I'll go."

Ginny gave her a grateful nod before going back out into the yard. Rose made her way up the stairs, and she didn't even need to guess which room they were in. Malcolm Bray was sitting on the landing outside of Bill and Charlie's old room, his hands clasped tightly in front of him.

"They wouldn't let you in?" Rose asked as she approached him. He shook his head.

"I didn't even ask. I just wanted to be here for her, even though I'm not entirely sure what's going on."

Rose paused in front of him, looking at him closely. "You care a lot about her."

Even though it wasn't a question, he nodded. "It's silly, right? We aren't even together."

"Not as silly as you think," Rose assured him with a friendly smile. He gave a small one in return, though it almost looked like a grimace. She moved past him and knocked lightly on the door, realizing there must be a silencing charm up when she could hear absolutely nothing coming from the room. The door was unlocked, and she cracked it open.

Alice was sitting on the bed, her head on her sister's shoulder as Victoire held her hand and sat beside her. It was eerily quite, and Rose wondered if her assumption about the silencing charm had actually been incorrect. Victoire looked up when Rose stuck her head in the door.

"Sorry," Rose began. "But they need you, Vic."

The bride nodded, squeezing Alice's hand before standing. Her skirt had been magically shortened so the train didn't drag on the floor. Rose fully opened the door and moved into the room as Victoire left.

"Everything alright?" Rose asked after the door was shut behind her. Alice lifted her head off her sister's shoulder. It looked like she had been crying but had stopped some time ago. There were tear tracks on her face, but her eyes weren't too puffy. She gave a nod and a small smile.

"I'm okay. Just took me by surprise and he was behaving like a cad. Brought back a lot of memories."

Rose gave a nod of understanding. She still didn't know all the details of the relationship Alice had been in when she was a fifth year, but it had obviously taken its toll on the young and impressionable girl.

"Can I ask a question?" Rose began hesitantly, and was pleased to see Alice nod.

"Is whatever happened with this Smith character the reason you're keeping Malcolm at arms length?"

Erin looked at Rose in shock, and if this went badly, she knew she was going to get an earful about her lack of tact from her best friend. Alice was frozen in surprise at the question.

"He really stood up for you," Rose continued, and some of the surprise fell away from Alice's face to be replaced with incredulity. "He and Teddy and Harry made him leave."

Alice visibly swallowed, staring at Rose as if trying to process this information.

"I know this really isn't any of my business, but he really cares about you, and he's sitting right outside."

Surprise made another appearance on Alice's face, and Rose could have sworn she saw her lips start to twitch up into a smile before she schooled her features to be impassive.

"He doesn't want to see me," she said in a quiet voice. "I'm a mess."

"Do you want to see him?" Rose asked. Alice looked at her for a moment, chewing her lip as she considered. "I think the only thing he cares about is that you're alright," Rose assured her.

Alice looked at Erin, who withdrew her arm from around her sister's shoulder and squeezed her hand, and a smile actually formed on Alice's face. She looked back at Rose and nodded. Erin got up from the bed after asking one last time if her sister was okay and followed Rose out into the hall. They left the door open behind them, and Malcolm looked up from his position on the stairs as they appeared.

Erin gazed down at him with her arms crossed and a stern look on her face. "Seeing as this might be the last time that I'll have the opportunity to talk to you as someone other than my professor for a while, there's something I want to say."

Malcolm nodded at her, and she continued. "If you bloody hurt her, you'll wind up in far worse shape. There's plenty of people who'd go out of their way to make your life hell. She's been through enough, alright?"

He nodded, trying to keep his face straight but unable to keep the amusement out of his eyes. This wasn't unnoticed by Erin.

"I'm serious. My brother's an Auror and my dad's a war hero. So watch yourself, Bray."

He managed to school his features into a serious expression, and he gave her a somber nod. This seemed to do the trick for Erin.

"She wants to see you," she said with a jerk of her head towards the room, and his face immediately lit up. They moved down the stairs as he stood, and they briefly heard him say Alice's name as he closed the door behind him. Erin let out a long sigh.

"That was bloody exhausting," she said as they reached the living room. Scorpius and Al were still waiting for them and stood when the girls entered.

"Everything alright?" Al asked, concern etched across his features.

"I think so," said Erin, glancing back up the stairs, a small smile on her face. "And if it wasn't before, I have a feeling it's about to be."

The wedding ended on a much brighter note. The four of them had returned to the party, Erin taking a turn to dance with Scorpius, and Rose with Al. Rose even managed to snag a quick dance with the groom and even her brother, who only protested slightly. Lily seemed to have cheered up from her previously sour mood. She laughed loudly as Teddy spun her around the dance floor, literally lifting her off her feet, and she received similar treatment from both her brothers.

By the time the party was winding down, Alice and Malcolm had appeared, and Rose spotted them enjoying the final slow dance of the evening together as she danced with Scorpius one last time.

"It wouldn't have been a Weasley family event without some type of drama," Scorpius said as they watched them. Rose couldn't help but laugh as she wound her arms around his neck. They were dancing much more closely than they had been earlier, and the adrenaline and the joy of the evening had her optimistic about the future. She smiled up at him.

"We Weasleys do like our happy endings, though."

She jerked her head towards Teddy and Victoire, who were dancing even closer than Rose and Scorpius were, Teddy unable to keep from dropping frequent kisses on his new wife's face.

"I don't want you to worry," said Scorpius, and Rose looked up at him in question. "About what's going to happen when we go back to school. I'll accept whatever consequences I need to, and we'll go from there. It might be weird or uncomfortable and even down right hard for a while, but it'll get better. You're not going to lose me if you don't want to."

Rose gave him a meaningful look. "I know. And I'd never want to."

* * *

 **A/N: Yay! Hope you enjoyed that as much as I did. We are back to Hogwarts in the next chapter! Thanks as always for the reviews :)**


	34. And I do appreciate you being round

The train ride back was a tension filled experience. Everyone who rode in the same compartment as Scorpius knew that he'd received a letter from the Headmistress the last day of the holidays, and that he'd be meeting with her after the welcome feast. Scorpius had meant what he said to Rose at the wedding. He believed they'd be able to get through whatever they were about to face, but that didn't mean he was looking forward to the possibility of a negative outcome. Losing his badge wasn't what he wanted.

Rose had avoided the topic by spending the majority of the time reading, and Erin was sleeping along the bench next to her. Al was keeping Scorpius distracted by engaging him in conversation about Quidditch. Caleb and Louis joined them for a short time, and so did Lily and Charlotte, which had helped ease some of the tension. There was only an hour left in the train ride, and it was just the four of them in the compartment when Rose set her book down.

"What would you like me to do?" asked Rose, looking at Scorpius in nervous anticipation.

"I don't think there's anything you can do…" Scorpius said, perplexed by her question.

"I meant do you want me to go with you?"

He truly appreciated the offer, but he knew he needed to do this on his own. Besides, she'd only be able to wait at the entrance to the Headmistress' office. And if it was a bad outcome, he knew he'd want to clear his head before he saw her.

"I can just meet you in the common room after," he said in an attempt at a nonchalant attitude, but Rose saw right through it.

"Scorp, she won't let you in if-"

She immediately stopped talking at the look Al was sending her way, and Scorpius truly appreciated his best friend for it.

"If I don't see you tonight, I'll see you at breakfast," Scorpius assured her, and Rose frowned, but turned to look out the window and said no more.

She really had been so understanding the past few weeks, and Scorpius appreciated that immensely. But there was a part of him that was bothered by her pessimistic attitude. Did she not have faith that the thousand things he'd done right - according to her - outweighed the one blemish on his record? Rose had always been a bit of a worrier, so maybe that's all this was, but her uncertainty strengthened his resolve to prove himself, rather than discouraged him.

By the time the train pulled into Hogsmeade station, the tension had reached an all time high. Erin had woken from her nap in a rather cheerful mood, which quickly changed when she saw the somber attitudes of everyone else. The carriage ride was unnaturally quiet, and they separated to sit with their own houses for the welcome back feast.

"Alright, Malfoy?" said Lucas Prince as he slid into the seat next to Scorpius, who barely spared the smirking Slytherin a glance before loading his plate with food.

"Fuck off, Prince," Al snapped from across the table. Scorpius gave his friend an impatient look. He was in enough trouble as it was. Al didn't need to go and make it worse. Prince gave Al a condescending look.

"Have a problem with me, Potter?" he challenged in an almost bored tone as Corbin sat next to Al. Scorpius' cousin was looking nervously between the two seventh years, while Al's face was set in a scowl.

"I do, in fact," said Al.

"Al, drop it," Scorpius insisted, and his best friend's hardened expression relaxed marginally, but he still watched Prince in displeasure.

"You don't have a problem with me, right, Malfoy?" said Prince, and Scorpius gave him an uncertain look when he put his arm around him and gripped his shoulder in an almost threatening way.

"I wouldn't press your luck," Scorpius managed to say with a reasonable amount of conviction. If he lost his badge, there wouldn't be much he could do, but if he remained Head Boy, he didn't plan on letting Prince continue to push him around. The smarmy seventh year gave Scorpius an amused smirk, but his eyes were cold as he clapped him on the back before withdrawing his arm.

"I have plans for you to make up for your failure at the end of last term, Malfoy," said Prince, and both Al and Corbin looked at Scorpius with tense expressions. The Malfoys spent Christmas dinner with Astoria's sister and her family, and Corbin had apologized for what had happened. He seemed guilty about the position Scorpius was now in, and the sixth year had even promised to do what he could to keep Prince off his cousin's back.

"I'll pass," said Scorpius, taking a swig of his pumpkin juice. Prince's eyes narrowed and he paused with his fork halfway to his mouth to look at Scorpius.

"Someone turning chicken again?" he challenged. Scorpius knew he was bating him, and if this were the previous term, he probably would have second guessed himself. But he was done with Prince's games.

"Nope. Just not interested," he said casually. Scorpius tensed when Prince turned on the bench to face him, but he kept his gaze ahead.

"Decided you're not Slytherin after all, eh, Malfoy?" he jeered. "Not feeling like stepping into Daddy's shoes?"

A quiet rage started building in Scorpius, and he snapped his eyes to Prince's hollow ones. "I'll thank you to leave my family out of this."

Prince's brow went up at Scorpius' tone. "Oh-ho. Look at Malfoy. Trying to step out of Daddy's shadow and take the straight and narrow?"

Scorpius focused on cutting his beef for a few moments, restraining himself from spewing all kinds of things at Prince.

"I said," Scorpius began in as calm a tone as possible, "to leave my family out of this. You don't know them, and you don't even really know me."

Prince just smirked, turning back to his food. "You shouldn't spend so much time with his lot," said Prince, lazily gesturing at Al with his fork. "Those Weasleys and Potters are likely to brainwash anything that gets past their rickety front gate into being nothing but spineless Muggle lovers who can't think for themselves. It's a pity one of them had to be a Slytherin."

Scorpius acted almost in anticipation of Al's move. He pulled his wand and had a shield charm between Al and Prince just in time for Al's curse to bounce off it and hit Corbin instead. Thankfully, it was only a stunning spell, and the sixth year merely fell backwards unconscious and onto the floor. Prince was triumphantly smirking at Al as he remained in his seat, Al standing and scowling down at him.

The entire hall had gone silent at the disturbance, and Scorpius felt his stomach clench, completely at a loss for how to handle this situation. He knew Al should be the one to get a telling off, but Prince had been out of line. Scorpius was saved from having to make a decision when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching them. He kept the shield charm up as their professors drew near.

"Professor Simpson, tend to Mr. Zabini, please. And then come to my office. You three," said Professor McGonagall, pointing to Al, Prince, and Scorpius, "come with me."

Scorpius lowered the shield as he and a still smug Prince stood. They all made their way out of the Great Hall under the watchful eyes of their fellow students, but Scorpius didn't pay them any mind. He grabbed Al by the arm as they reached the entrance hall so they fell in step behind Prince, who was following McGonagall.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Scorpius hissed at him.

"I wasn't, obviously," Al drawled. "You don't think you're in trouble too, right? You didn't do anything."

"I don't know at this point," said Scorpius. "It doesn't look good to be involved, that's for sure."

They reached the Headmistress' office, Al's guilty look that he'd adopted vanishing when he got a glimpse of Prince's still arrogant smirk.

"Sit," snapped McGonagall, and the three boys sat in the three chairs that were conveniently placed in front of her desk. Scorpius had the feeling that the room just knew how many she would need, because there always seemed to be the appropriate number whenever he'd been in there.

"Would you mind telling me why three of my seventh year Slytherin students, including the Head Boy and the Quidditch Captain, thought it prudent to duel in the middle of the start of term feast?"

Al sunk further back in his seat at her harsh glare. No matter what Prince had said, there was no getting around the fact that Al had struck first, and that Lucas Prince hadn't drawn his wand at all.

"You'll have to ask Potter, Professor," said Prince in an attempt at innocent confusion. "I didn't do anything."

"Yet you seem to have a horrible track record with finding yourself on the receiving end of curses, Mr. Prince," said McGonagall, clearly not buying his act. She turned her gaze towards Al, and the harsh look in her eyes softened a bit, but she was still very displeased.

"Potter, you know perfectly well it's against the rules to curse your fellow students. Mr. Zabini could have been badly hurt. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Al looked thoroughly chastened and had a hard time meeting McGonagall's eyes, but he was somehow able to manage it. "I'm sorry, Professor. I let him get to me. It won't happen again."

She gave him an appreciative nod. "Would you mind telling me what led you to acting out in such a way?"

Al glanced towards Prince, who was sitting on the other side of Scorpius, before looking back at his Professor. He may be rash and a little irresponsible at times, but Al wasn't a snitch, and he usually prided himself in that. So he didn't say anything. He merely looked at McGonagall, his jaw clenched shut. She knew all too well that Al wasn't going to talk, and she rolled her eyes at his stubbornness as she turned her gaze to Scorpius.

"Mr. Malfoy, I trust Mr. Potter had a reason, however unjustified, to act the way he did?"

Scorpius gulped nervously at her harsh gaze, but nodded. "Yes, Professor."

The sound of the door opening drew their attention behind them, and Professor Simpson entered. Scorpius liked his Head of House. He was only in his early forties at the most and had long black hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. He'd served as an Auror not long after the war had ended, but had decided to give it up to teach almost a decade ago. He was the longest running Defense Against the Dark Arts professor the school had had in decades.

"Mr. Zabini's going to be fine," he informed the Headmistress as he came to stand at her desk. "He says Potter was the only one to throw a curse, but Prince did a good job of provoking him first."

"Very well," said McGonagall, turning back to her students. "Mr. Prince, ten points from Slytherin, and you'll be serving a detention. Professor Simpson will inform you of when it will take place. You may go, but I encourage you to think carefully about what you say to your fellow witches and wizards. You won't always have people like Mr. Malfoy to save your skin."

Prince nodded, his smug look falling slightly as he stood and left the room, but he recovered enough to throw Al a sneer that went unnoticed by the Headmistress as he left the room.

"Now, Mr. Potter," said McGonagall, her tone not as harsh as she spoke to Al. It really showed Prince's reputation to see the difference in treatment he received from the Headmistress. Not that she was easier on Al, but she definitely had a softer spot for him, and probably more respect. It probably didn't hurt that he was a Potter as well.

"I know you wouldn't have acted in such a way unless you found it warranted, no matter how reckless it might have been."

Al smiled slightly at this, but McGonagall kept her gaze harsh. "However, you will also be serving detention, and I'll be taking another ten points from Slytherin."

"That's it?" Al asked, his eyes wide in surprise. Scorpius had been expecting a bit worse as well.

"Would you like your punishment to be harsher, Mr. Potter?" asked the Headmistress, a challenge in her eyes.

"No, Professor," Al was quick to assure her. "Thank you."

She gave a nod, her face remaining impassive. "I know you have a desire to become an Auror. Sound judgement before you act will go a long way."

Al's face turned red at this, but he gave a nod in understanding before McGonagall dismissed him. As Al left, Scorpius was surprised to see his Muggle Studies professor enter the room. He gave Scorpius a small smile as he moved to stand next to Simpson, who was hovering behind McGonagall's desk. Scorpius swallowed nervously as he took in his three professors. This was it. Whatever judgment they were bringing down, it was going to happen now. It made sense for Malcolm to be there, since he was the one who'd caught him. And Simpson made sense as well, being his Head of House. Bracing himself, Scorpius met the stern gaze of his Headmistress.

"I was extremely disappointed when Professor Bray informed me of your misdeeds at the end of last term," she began, her words honest and her voice hard. "This, along with other rumors floating around the castle about some encounters with Devon Shepard, had me second guessing the choice I made, without hesitation, this summer."

Scorpius grimaced. He forgot that Shepard had been spreading around rumors about the time he'd punched him. Even if he hadn't give details, it still looked bad.

"There is no excuse for your behavior. You are one of our best students, Mr. Malfoy," she continued. "You've shown good instincts and leadership qualities, some of which we saw tonight. I know you're smarter than your mistakes would make us believe. Do you plan on disappointing me again?"

Scorpius met her gaze, doing his best to remain confident.

"I've learned a lot this year, Professor," he began, willing himself to stay strong under her harsh eyes. Even though she appeared cold, he knew she cared about his well being, and that gave him a small sense of comfort. "And I've learned from my mistakes," he continued. "I'll probably make some again, but I've learned that the most important thing in the world is the people who care about you, and I fully intend to do everything I can to make sure I don't let them down ever again. So no, I don't plan on disappointing you, or anyone else for that matter. This is important to me, and I've been reckless. I won't be anymore."

He almost thought he saw a smile crack her pursed lips, but it was gone so fast he could have imagined it. Her eyes were softer, though, as she spoke.

"I believe you, Mr. Malfoy," she assured him. "And those who have spoken on your behalf do as well."

Scorpius glances towards his professors, assuming that's who she was referring to.

"I hope this lack of sound judgment doesn't carry over into your ambition to be an Auror either. You and Mr. Potter would be quite the team if you continue to act first and forget the consequences. Though I must say, your quick thinking tonight during your friend's squabble showed a lot of promise."

Scorpius' eyes widened in shock as he glanced at Professor Simpson, who was giving him a small smile. He looked back at McGonagall, who now had a slight smile on her own face.

"I hear you received a rather glowing recommendation," she said. "Professor Simpson has assured the Auror recruitment office that you'll be sitting your N.E.W.T.s for History of a Magic so you'll need to meet with him to work out the logistics of that. I'm sure we can trust you to do most of the work yourself, but a tutor wouldn't go amiss."

Scorpius nodded. He knew this had been a possibility, but right now he didn't care that he might have a heavier workload this term. All he cared about now was the positive nature of McGonagall's words.

"I wish you the best with your endeavor. I'm sure it won't go unnoticed that you served as Head Boy throughout your seventh year at Hogwarts."

A burden that he hadn't even realized the full weight of began to lift as he looked hopefully at the Headmistress.

"You're not taking my badge?" he asked, just to make sure he wasn't misreading her, and he smiled more freely than he had in a while when she shook her head.

"No, Mr. Malfoy. I'm not taking your badge. However, you will serve a weeks worth of detention with Professor Bray, and twenty points will be taken from Slytherin. You'll find that your punishment is slightly harsher than Mr. Zabini's and Mr. Marsh's, but as an authority figure, we have to be stricter. There are many students here who look up to you as an example. Don't squander that responsibility."

Scorpius nodded, almost jumping as a scrap of paper appeared in front of him and fluttered down to McGonagall's desk. She picked it up and scrutinized it for a moment before looking at Scorpius.

"Perfect timing. It appears Miss Weasley has set a new password for this term. I expect you'll find her in your common room."

She handed Scorpius the scrap of paper and he stood, correctly interpreting her words as a dismissal. He hurried out of the room after Professor Mac informed him his detentions would start the next day, a new spring in his step as he quickly made his way down the stairs that led to the Headmistress's office. Al was waiting for him, his face lined with worry as Scorpius appeared.

"Well?" he asked as Scorpius stopped in front of him. He schooled his features to give nothing away.

"I'm not in trouble. She even complimented me on my quick thinking."

Al relaxed a bit, thankful he hadn't gotten him in trouble, but he was still worried. "And the other thing?"

Scorpius couldn't help it. He started laughing, and Al's face shifted from concern, to surprise, and then excitement as he interpreted his friend's behavior.

"You're in the clear?"

"I'm in the clear."

It was a testament to their friendship that Al gave a huge sigh of relief before pulling Scorpius into a firm hug, who let out a laugh, unable to feel anything but elation.

"Come on," said Al, jerking his head towards the direction of the Heads' common room. "There's someone else who should hear this news."

* * *

Rose was pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace in her common room. She'd reset the password, which was mandatory at the start of term, and she knew the only way Scorpius would be able to get in was if McGonagall gave it to him. Now she just had to wait.

"Rose, I'm sure it'll be fine," Erin reassured her from her place on the couch, though she seemed tense as well. After witnessing the blow up at the Slytherin table, she'd insisted on coming with Rose, assuming that Al would join Scorpius if he came back to the common room, and knowing Rose would need company if they never showed.

They hadn't really seen what had happened since their backs were to the Slytherin table, but Hugo had and was quick to fill them in on what he witnessed. The sound of McGonagall's no-nonsense voice carried across the room, and then Rose and Erin had watched as the boys were led silently from the Great Hall. They'd quickly finished their meal before heading upstairs to wait.

What if Scorpius was in even more trouble? They knew Al probably was, but Hugo hadn't seen enough to be able to tell how involved Scorpius was. Rose hoped he had been the one to cast the shield charm.

"Al's in trouble and Scorpius still might lose his badge," Rose said as she continued to pace. "So no, everything is not fine."

"Please stop worrying so much," Erin said in annoyance. "You're not helping the situation."

"You're not either! Why are you even here?"

Erin looked offended at Rose's question. "I thought you might like some company. And I happen to care about what happens to them."

"Why?" Rose questioned, knowing she was probably pushing her luck but not finding room to care at the moment.

"They're my friends, Rose," she said in confusion.

"Oh, yes, we know."

This just confused Erin even more. "What's with the attitude? Just because I care about whether or not Scorp keeps his badge and Al doesn't get into too much trouble?"

"You didn't seem to care until Al was suddenly involved," said Rose in frustration. "And it's not like he's your boyfriend. You've made that perfectly clear."

Erin's face was slowly turning red, whether from anger or embarrassment, Rose couldn't tell. "You don't understand."

"Which I know perfectly well," Rose snapped back. She didn't know why she was choosing now to air all this out. Emotions were running high and she was hardly thinking through what she was saying, but it was coming out.

"I care about him, Rose," Erin practically shouted at her, standing from the couch with her fists clenched at her side. "I might not know how to show it but at least I'll admit it. You haven't exactly done a bang up job of doing anything other than making sure Scorpius knows how much he disappointed you."

"That's not fair," said Rose, but before they could continue, the sound of voices carried through from the other side of the portrait hole.

They both snapped their focus to the entrance to the common room. The seconds leading up to the door opening and revealing who was on the other side felt like hours to Rose. All the possibilities flashed through her mind. It would either be McGonagall, coming to tell her she'd taken Scorpius' badge, or one of the seventh year male prefects letting her know they'd taken his place. She wasn't prepared for either of those possibilities, and she felt a brilliant sense of relief when she caught sight of an amazingly familiar blond head of hair appearing through the portrait hole.

Rose didn't even consider restraining herself as she ran at Scorpius and flung herself straight into his not quite prepared embrace. He'd barely made it into the room, but he laughed at her exuberant gesture, gripping her tightly before stepping back. The smile Scorpius wore was more open and carefree than she'd seen in a while, and it took everything in her not to pull him to her in an unapologetic display of affection. But now wasn't the time for that, plus, they had company.

"You stupidly idiotic prat! How could you do something so careless? Corbin could have been hurt and you could've gotten in loads more trouble. Cursing someone in front of the entire school. What have you got to say for yourself?"

Erin was positively fuming at a rather confused Albus. Her hands were on her hips as she scowled at him, and Rose was rather comically reminded of her aunt Ginny.

"He made a crack about my family," he said uncertainly, "after trying to goad Scorpius into sneaking out again. He's had it coming for ages. No need to lose your shit about it."

"No need to lose my shit?" she snarled at him. "You think one of you being in trouble isn't enough?"

Rose had to stifle a laugh as Erin punched him in the chest in an effort to get her point across. "You're lucky Scorpius was there to save your arse."

Al gave an exasperated shake of his head. "Erin, I have detention and I lost some points. It could have been worse."

"I know," she snapped, and Rose could swear she saw a hint of fear in her eyes. They were all surprised when she spoke her next words in a voice so quiet, Rose and Scorpius could barely hear it. "But it's not okay for you to go around cursing first and asking questions later. You can't let people get to you like that. Especially if you're going to be an Auror. Don't do that again."

It was even more of a surprise to Rose that Al didn't fight back at her comments. Instead, he looked momentarily surprised before he gave a somber nod and moved forward as if to pull her into a hug, but Erin turned to give one to Scorpius instead.

"I'm glad everything turned out okay. I'll see you in Defense."

She didn't even look at Rose before quickly turning to leave the common room. Al was left with a stunned look on his face, his eyes locked on where she'd disappeared.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said in an almost dazed voice, only sparing them a glance and a nod before he followed after Erin.

"Well," said Scorpius, once the door had thudded shut behind their friend, "that could have been a nicer moment."

Rose couldn't help but chuckle, remembering that they had a reason to celebrate. She didn't want what happened between herself and Erin to ruin the moment. She was already starting to feel guilty about it.

"It probably just scared her," said Rose, moving to sit on the couch. Scorpius joined her, looking unsure of what she meant. "She was right. He can't be that hot headed if he's going to be an Auror."

"True… " Scorpius said slowly. "And I'm not defending him or anything, but I'm pretty sure his dad did worse."

Rose rolled her eyes, but gave him an indulgent smile. "Fine, but I still see where she's coming from."

He didn't say anything, just relaxed back into the couch and stretched his legs out in front of him. Rose smiled, watching his profile as he closed his eyes and the stresses of the past few weeks and even months started to fall away. Pulling her legs up under her, she turned to face him, resting her elbow on the back of the couch and propping her chin in her hand. His hair was unkempt, but he'd had it cut while he was home. She'd seen pictures in his house of when his dad was in school, and she was glad Scorpius hadn't chosen to slick his back in the same way. It looked like it would be soft if she were to run her hand through it.

Her eyes drifted to his face and saw that his were now open, and he'd turned his head slightly to look at her. There was something in them that almost looked hesitant, like there was still something she didn't know, and he wasn't sure how to say it.

"What?" she asked in a whisper, feeling like it would have been jarring to speak at full volume. He blinked at her for a few moments, his eyes drifting to where her chin rested in her hand. He reached up and flicked the end of the bracelet he'd given her, his lips quirking in a slight smile.

"Nothing," he assured her. "I'm just tired. Bloody exhausting day."

Rose could completely agree with that sentiment. Maybe that's all it was then. Even if it wasn't, this was not the night to get into whatever it was that might be bothering him. They could have a nice, relaxed evening without talk about anything else and just enjoy the good news they'd had.

"Good ending, though," said Rose, and she was pleased to see a flicker of a smile on his face.

"I wasn't sure I wouldn't be in the dungeons tonight," he said with a light chuckle. "So, yes. A rather good ending."

They just sat there in companionable silence for a few moments before Scorpius turned to face her more head on, moving so his knee was resting on the cushion between them.

"Can we put all this behind us?" he asked sincerely. "I know I did some pretty shitty things last term, and it might be a bit before you trust me. But I'd like to just…"

He trailed off, and she could tell he was trying to be honest while not pushing his luck.

"I think a fresh start sounds nice," she generously supplied for him, and Scorpius immediately relaxed and smiled at her.

"A fresh start sounds excellent."

* * *

 **A/N: I'm a day late, I know. So sorry! I had a nice little wifi free vacation though so that was refreshing. Great to hear from you as always so can't wait to read your reviews!**


	35. I know it's been coming for some time

"This should be the last of it," said Professor Bray, dropping a large crate of books in front of Scorpius. He'd been tasked with the job of sorting through all the old Muggle Studies texts for the entire week of his detention. Malcolm had explained that he hadn't had a chance to sort through everything that had been left behind by the former Muggle Studies Professor since he'd signed on for the job so late in the summer. It wasn't the worst job in the world, and Scorpius actually had the added company of his cousin the first night. It was a nice office, but at the beginning of the week, it had been a bit of a wreck. Looking around now, Scorpius couldn't help feeling a sense of pride at what they'd accomplished. And he was just about done with not only the project, but his detentions as well.

"I remember going over this," said Scorpius fondly, flipping through a book on various types of Muggle transportation. "This was third year, right?"

Malcolm glanced over as he resumed his place at his desk and nodded. "Those are actually a little outdated so you can put them in the toss pile."

Scorpius continued sorting. He'd enjoyed the company of his Professor throughout the week. Malcolm Bray had spent a lot of time grading and lesson planning while Scorpius worked, but there would be the occasional time where they'd strike up a conversation. He learned about Malcolm's family and his time at Hogwarts, and Scorpius even opened up about his desire to become an Auror once Malcolm asked about it.

"You should talk to Teddy," Malcolm had suggested.

"I've actually written him a few times with questions," said Scorpius. "I haven't told him outright, but I think he got the idea. He sort of hinted at it when I saw him over break."

Tonight, however, they weren't doing much talking. Scorpius was lost in his thoughts about the week as a whole. He'd meant what he said to Rose about a fresh start, and things did seem to be better, but he still hadn't told her he'd applied to the Auror Academy. Now that he wasn't losing his badge, and along with the recommendation letter from the head of the department, all that stood between him and a future as an Auror were his N.E.W.T.s.

Because of his detentions, he hadn't started working on History of Magic yet. Professor Simpson had basically left the choice of whether or not he wanted a tutor up to Scorpius. Either way, he'd have to start writing weekly essays and handing them in to Binns. More likely than not, he'd just study alongside Al and Rose. Which brought him to the point where he simply couldn't put off telling her anymore.

"You're free to go, Mr. Malfoy," said Professor Mac from his desk as soon as the clock on his wall chimed eight. Scorpius put the last few books in their appropriate piles before standing and grabbing his bag. Before he could leave, there was a knock on the door.

Malcolm started at the noise and looked at the door curiously before nodding at Scorpius, who'd stopped on his way out. Taking this to mean he could just answer the door as he left, he went to open it so he could head back to the common room and leave his Professor to his visitor. He just hadn't fully expected to come face to face with a rather nicely put together Alice Longbottom. She did a double take when she saw who answered the door.

"Hi, Scorpius," she said in surprise, glancing past him and into the room. Scorpius grinned, opening the door further and stepping back to let her in the office. A tentative smile appeared on her face when she saw Malcolm, whose eyes widened suddenly at her unexpected appearance. He stood from behind his desk and moved around it.

"Alice," said Malcolm, a half smile of surprise on his face. "Come in."

She smiled at him, giving Scorpius a quick glance as she moved past. "I stuck around after dinner to spend time with my dad and thought I'd stop in before I head out. Is that alright?"

By the look on his professor's face, Scorpius could tell it was very much alright. He began to feel uncomfortable as Professor Mac gave him a pointed look rather than responding to Alice.

"I'll leave you to it then, shall I?" said Scorpius, and Malcolm gave him a nod of appreciation, telling him he needn't worry about serving detention on Saturday since he'd gotten all of the work done. Scorpius thanked him and quickly left, letting the door snap shut behind him.

Professor Bray's office wasn't that far from the seventh floor, so Scorpius quickly made his way back to his common room, not all that surprised to see his three best friends there when he arrived.

Rose was on the floor with an unreasonable amount of rune charts spread out in front of her, Al was stretched out on the couch with the book Erin had given him for Christmas in his hands, and Erin was making a pot of tea over in the kitchenette.

The events of the first night of term had ensured Al and Erin's knowledge of the password to the common room, and Scorpius and Rose had decided to allow them the privilege again, once they'd promised not to abuse it. Things had actually been a little tense between the two since that night.

Neither had elaborated on what had happened when Al followed Erin out of the common room, and they'd just continued on like normal, if there ever really was a normal with the two of them. Things did seem fine for the most part, and those who didn't know them very well might not have seen a difference, but Scorpius could. And one thing he had been able to gather was that something was still bothering Erin, and Al had no clue what it was. Scorpius couldn't figure it out either, because her standoffish attitude always seemed to appear at random. With all the detention, Scorpius had only been able to ask Al in passing one day if he knew what was going on, and the only thing Al said was, "The hell if I know."

Even Rose and Erin had seemed a bit at odds with each other for a few days, but Erin had spent hours in Rose's dorm with her the night before, and things had seemed better than ever between them since. And now Scorpius was about to stir the pot even more.

"How'd it go?" Rose asked, sparing him only a glance when he entered as she continued to pour over her rune charts.

"Well enough that I don't have to go back tomorrow," he said with a relieved smile.

"Brilliant," said Al, resting his book down on his chest. "I wanted to get in a training session tomorrow."

Scorpius groaned as he collapsed into one of the armchairs. "Fine. But we're using warming charms."

"Hey, I've had to put off practice for a week because you landed your arse in detention. Least you could do is support your captain."

"Seeing as Scorpius could very well have suffered worse consequences, I think we can lay off him for the detentions," said Rose in his defense. Al merely grumbled as Scorpius gave Rose a small but grateful smile.

"Are you two not going into Hogsmeade, then?" Erin asked as she levitated a tray of tea things onto the floor next to Rose, plopping herself down on the other side of it so she was sat by Al's head where it rested on the arm of the couch.

"Do we need to?" Scorpius asked. They tended to take advantage of their freedom to go into the wizarding village, but there was usually something that at least one of them wanted to do that caused them to go.

"Alice asked me to help her with some shopping so I'm going," said Erin. "Something about updating her wardrobe."

The comment sparked something in Scorpius' memory, and he grinned. "Really? She seemed to look nice enough tonight."

Erin's eyes snapped to him, looking confused and almost concerned by his comment. They'd all seen Alice at dinner, so it wasn't too bizarre of a remark, but it still wasn't something he'd normally say.

"Why the hell were you paying attention to what my sister was wearing tonight?"

Scorpius just shrugged as they all gave him incredulous looks. "I just happened to get a good look at her when she stopped by to see Bray as I was leaving detention tonight."

He got the reaction he was expecting when Erin's jaw dropped.

"What?" Erin asked, a smile breaking out on her face. "She didn't say anything! And I bet this was her plan all along. I thought it was odd she switched dinner to Friday, but it all makes sense now."

"How come?" asked Rose, making herself a cup of tea.

"Because my very responsible sister would never go visit a bloke on a school night," Erin said with a smirk, taking a sip of her own tea before continuing. "And I know I'd want to do what I could to ensure I'd be able to spend as much time as possible with a bloke I went to see. Maybe even all evening."

Rose just about choked on her tea at that statement. "Point taken," she said once she'd recovered. "Can we move on? I have to get this done or I'll never have time to do that ridiculous essay Binns set us this weekend."

And just like that, Scorpius was reminded of the dreaded task ahead of him. He glanced at Al, who was asking Erin to hand him a biscuit from the tray she'd brought over, and tried to catch his eye. It wasn't until he had the ginger snap in his mouth that he noticed Scorpius' attention on him. His brow rose in question and he followed Scorpius' gaze as he glanced down at Rose, who was once again thoroughly focused on her studies. The blond Slytherin nodded in confirmation once Al seemed to catch on. He'd been pestering Scorpius all week to tell her whenever they'd had a free moment together, so it was with a sigh of relief that Al sat up on the couch, closing his book and struggling for a moment to come up with an excuse to leave and drag Erin with him.

"Actually, you can stay," said Scorpius, and they all looked at him; Erin in startled confusion, Al uncertainly, and Rose perplexed yet annoyed at being interrupted once again. At first, he'd wanted to do it alone, but having them there felt right. Not to mention Al could back him up if needed. Rose's expression changed once Scorpius locked eyes with her, appearing more curious and concerned now. He figured he probably looked bloody terrified by what he was about to say.

"There's something I haven't told you yet, and I think it's about time I did."

He sent a glance at Erin, clueing both the girls in that this was something she was unaware of as well. Al was now leaning forward with his arms on his knees, bouncing a leg in agitation. Scorpius appreciated the fact that not only was his friend nervous for him, but the glint in his eyes gave away that there was an underlying excitement felt as well.

"What's going on?" Rose asked, her tone demanding as she watched him closely.

"You know how you asked about what I wanted to do when I left Hogwarts? And how you wondered if going to work for my dad was what I really wanted to do?"

Rose nodded. "You said it wasn't."

Scorpius slowly nodded in confirmation, summoning the strength to continue. Once he said it, he couldn't take it back, and he was risking a hell of a lot. But what mattered beyond anything, - whether Rose was upset or thought she couldn't handle it - was that he was doing what he knew he should. He was becoming who he was supposed to be. Did he want Rose to be a part of that? Yes, but he needed to be someone apart from who he was with Rose. He couldn't let any potential future with her define him, and he couldn't be only half a person. Ever since he'd made the choice to send in his application, he'd felt a sense of peace, knowing he'd made the right decision. He just hoped she thought so too.

"I've thought long and hard about what I want to do. What I feel like I'm supposed to do with my life."

He paused one last time and sat foreword in his chair, mimicking the position Albus was in. His hesitant eyes met Rose's curious ones.

"I sent in my application for the Auror Academy."

The silence in the room was stifling, the only noise coming from the clock that hung above the mantle. Where she had been curious before, Rose now looked shocked and almost helpless as her warm brown eyes searched his.

"When?" she asked, the word coming out hoarse and unsteady.

"Same day as Al. Day before the wedding."

Rose turned to look at her cousin, her long fiery hair whipping around her shoulders. Al gave her an apologetic grimace as Erin glanced between the three of them, entirely unsure of what to say or do. Rose's gaze moved back to Scorpius, and this time her eyes were hard.

"How long?"

"Um…" he began. "I'm not entirely sure I understand-"

"How long have you wanted to do this?"

He paused, knowing she wouldn't be happy with how long he'd kept it from her. "For a while. But it's only been the last few months that-"

"Months?"

Scorpius couldn't read her expression or her tone anymore, nor could he think of anything else to say. Rose didn't really give him the option, though, and she roughly grabbed a few books off the floor before standing up and storming into her dorm, slamming the door behind her with a deafening thud.

"Shit," Scorpius bit out, burying his head in his hands and wishing he could rewind the moment. What he would do differently, he had no clue.

The other two remained silent, but he could tell that they were silently communicating with each other. It didn't matter right now. All that mattered was that Rose was most definitely not supportive of his decision.

"She'll come around, mate," Al said in a soothing tone, and Scorpius looked up to see his friend looking at him with an optimistic yet sympathetic expression on his face. "I reckon she's only pissed because you didn't tell her sooner."

"Come on, Al," said Scorpius with a resigned sigh. "You've heard what she's said whenever it's come up. She can barely handle it that _you're_ going to be an Auror, but both of us?"

"Not to mention how much she cares about you," Erin put in, busying herself with making another cup of tea.

"What about me?" Al asked, sounding slightly offended.

"She cares about you too, of course," said Erin, handing Al the cup of tea she'd been making before starting another one. "But it's different."

She stood with the other cup of tea in hand and moved to give it to Scorpius, a knowing look on her face.

"We're not together, Erin," said Scorpius.

"I know," she said, sitting in the other armchair rather than back on the floor. "But we've all known for a while there's a good possibility it'll happen eventually."

Scorpius tried not to blush under Erin's scrutinizing look. He cleared his throat and took a sip of tea rather than respond.

"You heard what she said about how hard it was on her mum when her dad was still an Auror," Erin continued. "It's hard enough sometimes knowing my brother would risk his life any day. I imagine it would be bloody difficult to be with someone who chose a path that made you terrified for them."

At her words, Al looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean 'you imagine?' "

Erin merely gave him a withering look before turning back to Scorpius. "The point is, she has every reason to be upset right now. You caught her completely off guard with something she never expected. But that doesn't mean she won't get used to the idea. Give her time, alright?"

Scorpius nodded, grateful for Erin's unusually cool head.

"Congratulations, by the way," said Erin with a small smile. "I'm happy you've found what you want to do. I'm sure you'll be brilliant."

Scorpius gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks, but I have to get in first."

"Don't let the modesty fool you," said Al, standing and grabbing the tea tray before heading into the kitchen. "My dad wrote the most beautiful letter of recommendation. He's practically a shoe in. Assuming he doesn't fail all his N.E.W.T.s."

Erin seemed impressed by this news, and Scorpius fought hard to keep himself from blushing. He cast a glance towards the closed door that led to Rose's room, wondering just how much time he should give her. Was he supposed to leave it until she came to him? He supposed he could, but part of him was starting to feel irritated at how she'd reacted. Erin might have had a point, but his decision wasn't about Rose. It was about his life and his future. It might have been selfish to think that way, but he found he didn't care.

Hardly thinking about what he was doing, Scorpius set down his cup and stood from his seat, marching towards her door. Ignoring the sound of Erin and Al questioning him, he knocked quickly, not even waiting for Rose to respond before he let himself in.

She wasn't there, but the light from under the bathroom door gave away her location. Scorpius paused for a moment, deciding if he should continue. He'd never actually been in her room before. He heard Erin heading towards him and saying his name, so he quickly closed the door before she could get to him. Striding confidently across the room, he rapped his knuckles against the bathroom door.

There was a hesitant "yes?" and he suddenly knew exactly what he wanted to say.

"It's me. Open up."

There was silence for a moment, before the sound of movement reached his ears. He only had to wait about a minute before the door opened and an uncertain Rose stood before him, her long red hair, wet and plaited, hanging over her shoulder. She was dressed in a simple white vest that was wet where her hair was resting against it, and she wore tartan flannel pants. What he really noticed was the despondent look on her face.

"What do you want?"

Scorpius crossed his arms and looked down at her sternly. He could tell she hadn't been expecting the attitude he'd assumed.

"I want a lot, actually," he said, and she started a bit at his honesty. "But you hearing me out and then maybe explaining why you stormed away would be a good start."

Rose sighed and moved past him into her room. He followed and stood awkwardly at the foot of her bed as she plopped down on it, pulling one leg up and tucking her foot under her, the other one dangling over the side. She looked blankly at Scorpius, and it all just came pouring out of him.

"I don't understand why you can't just support me in this. I knew this might be hard for you, but all last term, all you did was encourage me to be what I wanted and to not let anyone else tell me who to be. Well, this is me figuring it out and this is something I not only want to do, but feel like I'm supposed to do. God, Rose, I've finally got my head on straight and you're likely to do me in again."

He'd been pacing along the end of her bed, but stopped and gripped the rail at the foot, ducking his head down and letting out a frustrated sigh.

"That's not it."

He snapped his head up and met her eyes. They were warmer and softer now as she turned to face him more fully.

"I know you'll be a brilliant Auror," she began in a shaky voice. "In fact, I'm surprised it never even crossed my mind. It might terrify me a bit, but you're right. I _do_ want you to be exactly who you're supposed to, and I won't stand in the way of that."

Scorpius wasn't sure what exactly she meant by that last bit, and he was scared of the possibilities, but he let it go for now as she continued.

"I just don't know why you couldn't have told me sooner," she said in a small voice. Scorpius felt a sense of relief that Al had been right. Releasing his grip on the end of the bed, he moved around so he stood in front of her.

"Because I know how you feel about Al being an Auror, and I knew you'd worry. I wanted to put that off for as long as possible."

She nodded. "It's not cause you don't trust me, then?"

"No," he assured her as he sat next to her. "I know you have a reason to think I wouldn't since I sort of kept quite a bit from you last term." He rubbed the back of his neck in agitation. "But that wasn't it. I just felt like I needed this to be mine, you know? I felt like I had to tell Al, and my parents as well, but the decision was all mine. If I'd told you as soon as I started entertaining the idea, you'd have been involved in the decision making process. It's not that I don't appreciate your input, it's that I might appreciate it too much. I needed to know this was my choice."

He held his breath as he waited for her to respond in some way, hoping his honesty hadn't rubbed her the wrong way or been a little too blunt. But Scorpius wouldn't take it back even if he could have. He felt like he'd needed to say it.

Rose watched him closely, chewing her lip as she studied his sincere face. Eventually, she moved, and his eyes widened in surprise as she rose up onto her knees and moved towards him, pulling him into a hug so that her arms went around his neck and his chin rested on her shoulder. Scorpius only hesitated for a moment before he wrapped his arms around her slender waist. It was hard not to be overwhelmed by not only her close proximity, but the familiar flowery scent of her hair, which was even stronger than normal as she'd just washed it. He didn't even care that the front of his jumper was getting wet from her hair caught between them.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, her mouth somewhere near his ear. Scorpius made a concerted effort not to let a shiver round down his spine as he focused on her words, trying to ignore the fact that they were pressed against each other on her bed.

"You're right," she continued, still holding him tightly. "I was being selfish."

He shook his head and she released him slightly, moving back so she could look him in the eye.

"It's alright," he assured her. "But are you sure that's the only reason you were bothered?"

A trace of fear grew in her eyes and she sank back down onto the bed. "Erin and I got into a bit of a row when we were waiting for you and Al the other night. I don't know if you noticed things were rocky for a few days."

Scorpius nodded, unsure what this had to do with his question. Her eyes were focused on her comforter while she tugged at a loose string as she spoke.

"It was my fault. I was stressed and anxious and worried about you and I let it get to me. She's one of my best friends, but so's Al. More than that, he's family. And I didn't realize how much this thing between them has been affecting me. I guess I was blaming her for letting things just be the way they are, and I let myself believe she didn't really care for him. I sort of snapped."

She paused for breath, her gaze momentarily flickering to his as if to check if he was still listening.

"We talked it out last night, and she might not appreciate me telling you this, but she really cares about him. More than I thought. And it scares her to think that he could be one stupid mistake away from getting himself killed. And I didn't fully understand how that felt. Until tonight."

Time seemed to stand still for a moment as her words sunk in. Scorpius had no clue what to say to that. It was the most honest either of them had been about how they truly felt, and that wasn't where he thought this conversation would go. Along with this revelation came his fear that she wouldn't be able to handle him being an Auror. Had he been right? Was that what she was about to tell him?

"I'm not going to pretend it doesn't scare me," she continued, "but I'd never try and talk you out of it. The way you just came in here and told me off is enough to convince me that you want to do this."

She said it with a bit of a smirk, and Scorpius allowed himself a slight smile, the moment where he thought she'd crush his hopes now passed. "I figured it was best not to beat around the bush."

"Well, you definitely got your point across," said Rose with a sigh. She moved to stand and started gathering up the books she'd brought in earlier and discarded on her bed.

"Are we okay?" Scorpius couldn't help but ask. Rose nodded, giving him a small smile before turning to set her books on a desk by the window.

"Of course we are," she said, moving to stand in front of him. "You were right and I overreacted. But you might have to give me some time to get used to it."

He stood and hugged her one more time, risking a kiss to the top of her head before pulling back.

"I can do that," he told her, "but it would go a long way in helping me know I could do this if you trusted me."

Rose gave him a small smile. "I do. I'm sorry. Just one more drop in the bucket and another reminder that this will all be over soon."

She was looking up at him with an indiscernible expression, and he realized how close they were standing. Scorpius thought back to what she'd just said only moments ago, and then to the end of last school year. Her words rattled around in his mind. He vividly remembered talking to her in the library not long before their final exams, their conversation about making the most of the time they had left feeling so important in that moment and this.

It would be so easy to just duck his head down and kiss her, and a huge part of him wanted to do it. So why couldn't he? There was something holding him back, and it almost made him feel like a coward, but he didn't know what it was. Maybe it just wasn't the right moment, and this was important enough that he knew when they finally crossed that line, the moment had to be right.

Instead of pulling her closer to him, he gripped her shoulder, noticing her eyes were heavy with exhaustion.

"You should get some sleep," he said in a soft voice, trying not to notice her slight disappointment as she nodded before he bid her goodnight and made his way back out into the common room. Scorpius had almost forgotten that Al and Erin had been there when he'd gone to talk to Rose. They stood from the couch when they heard him close Rose's door.

"Everything's fine," he assured them. "You can go."

Erin nodded and packed up her things, but Al hesitated.

"Seriously," Scorpius assured him. "It's fine. She's knackered, and frankly, so am I. I'm not keen on talking it to death at this point."

Al nodded in understanding, and he and Erin left the common room. Scorpius was barely able to strip down to his boxers before he collapsed onto his bed from exhaustion, overwhelmed yet finally feeling peace about not only making the right decision, but no longer keeping any secrets. Things between them might still be in a rather delicate limbo, but something told him even that would work itself out in the end. He just had to wait for the moment to be right.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for being a day late! Yesterday was a rough one for me and grief sucks. Hug the ones you love extra tight today. Thanks for all your reviews! Hope you enjoy the ScoRose interaction :)**


	36. I will hold on hope

The next day, Rose went out of her way to ask Scorpius questions about his decision to apply to the Auror Academy. It wasn't in a challenging way, but more out of genuine curiosity. After she'd slept on it, she found she truly was excited for him, no matter how nervous it made her. She could just imagine him and Al going to training together and then eventually being fully fledged Aurors, and the thought actually made her smile. It was all becoming very real, how close the future was.

One added benefit of Scorpius' decision was his need to study History of Magic. It might not have seemed like one to him, but he'd now be spending even more time studying with her than before, and Rose was not going to complain about that. When he'd told her he needed to sit his N.E.W.T. for it, she'd immediately started thinking of ways to organize a study schedule for them so that he'd be able to adequately cover the last few years he missed, as well as revise from the first five.

She was beginning to find with all her classes that Nastily Exhausting wasn't an exaggeration. After she and Erin had gone into Hogsmeade to shop with Alice and get the scoop on her budding romance, they'd returned to the castle just as the boys were finished with their training. They'd had dinner together, during which Scorpius had told her his need to study History of Magic, and she'd insisted that they all head to the library after so they could get organized about studying for their N.E.W.T.s right away.

It had actually been very helpful, as far as Rose could tell, and they'd been able to stay on top of things throughout the following week. This made her feel comfortable with indulging in some time off.

On Friday evening, Erin had convinced her to abandon the library in favor of heading back to the Heads' common room and making some hot cocoa. The boys still had their heads buried in books since they'd had less time to study due to Quidditch, so they planned to return with a pitcher of cocoa and a tin of biscuits to get them through the rest of the evening. It felt odd to be doing homework on a Friday night, but Rose could remember all her friends and family members who'd graduated before her doing the exact same thing their seventh year.

They left the library and Erin heaved a great sigh, glad to be away from the suffocating piles of books and parchments.

"I swear I close my eyes and I see diagrams of wand movements like they've been permanently burned into my brain."

Rose chuckled at her friend's dramatics. "At least you'll be able to remember it all come exam time."

Erin let out a harsh laugh. "That's not likely."

"Have you figured out what you're doing after?" Rose asked, somewhat nervous to voice the question.

One of the only reasons Rose had any idea what Erin wanted to do with her life was because she'd been able to read between the lines. Erin was brilliant at Potions and had been top in their class most years, but she also had a knack for Herbology. Most people wrongfully assumed that she'd take after her father and find work in the plant world. However, Rose knew better. Erin wanted to use her knowledge and knack for Herbology to help her in the development of new and experimental curative potions. It wasn't something she had opened up about, most likely because getting any type of potions apprenticeship was rather difficult. Not to mention Erin would be particular about wanting to be in a position where she could continue to learn and experiment. So Rose was pleasantly surprised to see Erin smile shyly.

"Actually, I just might've."

Rose looked at her in interest as they made their way up to the seventh floor.

"I know you know me well enough that you've probably gathered what I'd like to do," said Erin slowly, glancing at Rose for confirmation. She continued after Rose nodded. "Well, after Scorpius told us about his change of plans, I wrote to his dad."

"What?" Rose asked in surprise.

Erin nodded as they reached the seventh floor. "He works in potions, he develops new ways to brew them, and he no longer has someone lined up to come work for him. I don't want to do what he does exactly, and I explained that in my letter, saying that I'd prefer to experiment with new potions rather than finding new ways to make existing ones, and asked if he either had something I could do or knew of someone who did. He wrote me back this morning."

Rose looked at her with wide eyes, her mouth open to respond when the sound of laughter from down the corridor stopped her. No one usually had a reason to go up to the seventh floor unless they went to the Heads' dorms or the Room of Requirement. They rounded the corner into the hall that led to both rooms and almost ran smack into Lily and Caleb.

Lily let out a gasp of surprise, stopping so suddenly that Caleb was jerked back thanks to their joined hands, which were immediately pulled apart as soon as Lily realized they were still clasped together. Her face turned bright red as Rose looked between the two in shock, Caleb's face a mask of innocence. Uncomfortable silence fell while Lily stared at her cousin as if challenging her to say something, but Rose couldn't figure out which question she wanted to ask first.

"This is fun."

They all looked at Erin, who was smirking mischievously at the guilty looking pair.

"Did you know about this?" Rose asked, fairly certain she knew what "this" was.

"Walked in on them in her dad's study on Christmas Eve," said Erin, still smirking.

"We weren't doing anything," Lily said with a roll of her eyes.

"You were about to."

Caleb was now rubbing the back of his neck and looking anywhere but at the three witches in his presence.

"Doesn't matter," said Rose before Lily could snap back at Erin. "I didn't catch you breaking any rules just now, did I?"

Caleb shook his head, finally looking at Rose. "We were just studying in the Room of Requirement."

"Why not the library? Or a common room?" Rose asked.

"Because…" Caleb began, before glancing at Lily uncertainly. "Because no one knows we're together and it's infuriating to pretend all the time."

Lily was now bright red. Rose was trying very hard not to smile. It was a bit of a surprise, but she'd had so much going on lately it wouldn't be that much of a shock if there had been signs she'd missed. She was starting to feel like a week couldn't go by without finding out about another relative who'd taken up with someone. At least they hadn't been snogging like Dom and Lysander.

"Alright," said Rose. "And why is this a secret?"

Caleb looked at Lily expectantly, and it was immediately obvious to Rose that this was a bit of a sore spot between the two by the way Lily grimaced.

"Tell you what," said Caleb. "I'll just head back to the common room and leave you lot to it."

With a nod from Lily, he gave a small smile in farewell before taking off down the corridor. The other three were left in an awkward silence before Erin suggested they continue towards the Heads' common room. It wasn't until the cocoa was just about ready that Lily finally spoke up from where she'd sat on the couch.

"It's my fault we haven't told anyone."

Rose, who was waiting for biscuits to appear in one of the cabinets, looked over her shoulder to see her cousin fidgeting nervously.

"I wanted to make sure it was going to stick before he was subjected to whatever the men in our family decide to throw at him."

Turning back to the cabinet, Rose opened it and pulled out the two tins that had appeared, leaving Erin to finish up the cocoa as she went to sit next to Lily.

"And?"

Lily's cheeks were tinged slightly pink, as they had been since they'd found her holding hands with Caleb in the corridor. It was rather entertaining to see Lily in this state. The whole thing was rather foreign. Lily had always been pretty and outgoing, and it didn't take long for the boys to start asking her to Hogsmeade as soon as they were able to go, but she'd never seemed that affected by it.

"Well I'm sure as hell not planning on ending it with him anytime soon," said Lily, a bit of her usual confidence coming back through.

"Does that mean I don't have to keep my trap shut anymore?" asked Erin, coming over to sit in one of the armchairs. "She called in her favor from our little bet last term to keep me quiet," she said to Rose.

"Don't tell Al," Lily said with wide eyes. "I think I need to be the one to do that. I owe Caleb that much. He's wanted to tell everyone for ages."

"Do you really think it'll be that bad?" asked Rose.

"Maybe not," Lily said uncertainly, her voice going up at the end as if it were a question. "I've been enjoying the fact that no one knows and they can't stick their noses in our business."

"Well, we're going back to the Library," said Erin. "Al's there. You could just go tell him now."

Lily let out a bark of laughter. "I need to at least give Caleb a warning before I sic my brother on him."

They left the common room a short while later, biscuits and cocoa placed under a warming charm in tow.

"How long has this been a thing?" Rose couldn't help but ask.

"Which part?" Lily asked with a chuckle. "We've fancied each other for at least a year, maybe longer, but neither of us actually did anything about it until right before Christmas."

"Did you know he fancied you?" asked Erin.

"Didn't you ask enough questions after you caught us?" Lily grumbled.

"No."

Lily sighed and they paused by the stairs that would take her back to the Gryffindor common room. "Yes. It was rather obvious to both of us how we felt, but it just didn't feel like a possibility. Eventually, we just got sort of sick of denying it."

"How romantic," Rose said with a smirk, and Lily's blush returned.

"Anyway, please don't say anything? Not yet. We said we'd tell people no later than Easter holidays. Think you can manage to keep quiet till then?"

"We can certainly try," said Rose, not entirely comfortable with having to keep a secret that would no doubt bring a somewhat negative reaction from Al. But she did understand where Lily was coming from.

Lily thanked them before running off towards her common room.

"Bloody glad I don't have to keep that all to myself anymore," Erin said with a sigh. "It's fucking difficult not to tell you things like that."

"Well I had no clue so you did well," Rose said with a chuckle. "You're better at keeping things to yourself than you think. Did I mention recently that you're a bit like a high security vault at Gringotts?"

"I'm working on that," Erin said sincerely, knowing Rose was referring to their conversation a week before.

The few days following their argument the night they'd arrived back at Hogwarts had been filled with tension, but they'd done their best to hide it from the boys. Both of them had known that they would be asked questions if it were obvious something was wrong, but since they were technically arguing about Al and Scorpius, they really didn't want to have to come up with something to say. In the end it was Rose who'd casually asked Erin if she wanted to study with her in her dorm one night, giving them the chance to hash things out.

At first, Erin had been her usual stubborn self when it came to addressing her emotions, and the argument had almost picked right back up where it had left off, since neither were quite ready to apologize. Rose began trying to defend herself in regard to how she'd been treating Scorpius, but Erin wasn't having it.

"All he wants is to know you think he's more than his mistakes, but that's all you've focused on lately."

"You don't know that!" Rose had argued back.

"The way he looks like a kicked puppy most of the time he's around you is enough proof for me."

Her words had actually caused Rose to stop and think. The only time she saw him over break when they didn't talk about his rule breaking had been on Christmas Eve. And that was probably because they never had a moment alone. But if Erin thought she was focusing on it because his mistakes were all she saw, she was wrong.

"Erin, I was so worried this was all going to go to shit that it's all I could think about. Yes, his mistakes played a role in the way things were and yes we talked about them, but that's because I cared about what happened to him. It doesn't mean that's all he is to me."

"Really? Than what is he to you?"

The challenging tone had Rose clamming up immediately. No matter how much they may have hinted at Rose's feelings for Scorpius during their conversations, she'd never outright owned it.

"He's my _best_ friend, Erin," she'd eventually said, but Erin wasn't having it.

"I'm your best friend. Al's your best friend. What's the difference? You're insisting I can't face my own feelings, but when have you ever owned up to yours?"

It had been easy to talk to her mum and to James about all this, because they were never around. It was almost like a separate world. It hadn't even been that difficult to hint at it in her conversation with Scorpius the night of the Halloween party, because nothing was actually said. But opening up to Erin made it final. It made it real that she actually fancied her best friend. Even in all those other conversations, she'd never said it. It had been implied. Erin would never settle for that.

"Fine," she'd finally snapped. "I fancy Scorpius. Happy?"

Erin's eyes had actually grown comically wide at Rose's words. "Wow. I didn't think you'd actually say it."

They'd stood in silence for a moment, arms crossed as they faced each other in Rose's dorm room.

"Yeah, well, it's rather freeing, actually," said Rose a bit tersely. "You should try it sometime."

Erin's face slowly changed from shocked to pained, and she moved to sit on the bed, almost collapsing on it as she let out an agonizing sigh.

"I hate your bloody cousin," she said with a scowl. Rose moved to join her on the bed, looking at her patiently until Erin's brow furrowed and she pursed her lips, looking down at her hands clasped tightly in her lap.

"I think I'm falling for Al. As in love. As in I think I'm falling in love with your cousin."

Rose's jaw had nearly hit the floor then, and the rest of the conversation had consisted of both of them apologizing for their behavior, and expressing their fears and their confusions over everything. Erin had confided in Rose that she and Al had managed to grab a stolen moment during the snowball fight on Christmas Eve and that she thought he'd been close to saying something, but he hadn't quite.

"I was right about the book, by the way," she'd said to Rose. "He said something about how much it meant that I not only knew him as well as I did, but that I support him."

"You do, right?" Rose had asked. "You having a go at him for being reckless the other night doesn't mean you don't?"

"Of course not," Erin had said. "But it sort of made me step back and think about how real this all is. Once he's out there and most likely being a brilliant Auror, he's still only one move away from doing something that could get himself killed, and that's something I can't bare to even think about."

Her eyes had glimmered for a moment with unshed tears, but she'd blinked and they were gone, leaving Rose to wonder if they'd ever been there in the first place. And now Rose was finally starting to understand how her friend felt.

As they continued on their way back to the Library, Rose linked her arm through her best friend's. Al probably had no idea what the extent of Erin's feelings were. She was too good at hiding them. At least, Rose hoped he didn't. If he did and he was just leading her on, she'd have a hard time forgiving him.

When they reached the library, Erin pulled a letter out of her bag after they set the pitcher and tins on the table. As they sat across from Al and Scorpius, she handed it to Rose, who looked at it in confusion before remembering what Erin had said about writing to Mr. Malfoy. She eagerly opened it and read.

 _Miss Longbottom,_

 _Thank you for your letter. I am pleased to hear that Scorpius has chosen to share his decision to pursue a career as an Auror with his friends. We are very proud of him._

 _You are right in assuming his choice leaves some space for me to bring someone on in an apprentice position. I had set aside funding for such a purpose and had been planning on starting an apprenticeship program that would start with Scorpius and hopefully continue from there. I had just begun considering taking out an ad in The Daily Prophet when the pleasant surprise of your letter arrived._

 _My associates and I, of which there are three, have generally kept to the business of developing knew recipes and methods for brewing existing potions, but I must say, your letter excited me. Thinking about branching out to study and develop curative potions is something I've long been interested in. It would be my pleasure to offer you an apprenticeship that will allow you to pursue your ambition once you complete your schooling. You'll have to bear with me as we work out the methods and procedures necessary to expand the business in this direction, but your initiative and passion on the subject tells me you'd be more than up to the task._

 _I'll write again when I've sorted out the logistics, such as hours and wages. In the meantime, I expect a response including either your acceptance or refusal of my offer._

 _Looking forward to hearing from you, and potentially working alongside you._

 _Regards,_

 _Draco Malfoy_

Erin was grinning brightly as Rose looked at her with her eyes wide and her mouth open in shock.

"That's incredible," she whispered, her excitement for her friend dying to spill out, but trying to respect the atmosphere of the library. Erin nodded eagerly as Rose handed the letter back to her.

"What are you on about?" Al asked as he poured some of the cocoa into a mug he'd conjured. Erin passed the letter to him, grinning excitedly as he took it. Scorpius read along with him over his shoulder.

"I hope I find something in London," said Rose as she reorganized the books she'd left on the table. "It won't be that difficult for you to just Floo to the Manor everyday, and if I work in London, it would make sense to find a flat there. And I've always wanted to live in London."

They'd always talked about finding a flat together once they left Hogwarts, and as long as Rose found a job, that was starting to look like a real possibility.

Erin started babbling in excitement about all the possibilities her opportunity now brought them, and didn't stop until Al handed back the letter.

"I didn't know that's what you wanted to do," he said, his tone unreadable.

"It's brilliant," said Scorpius with a smile. "Makes me feel less guilty too, so thanks for that."

Erin laughed good naturedly. "Thanks. And nobody really knew," she said, addressing Al's unasked question. "It's bloody difficult to get a position like that. I'm right lucky."

She was beaming, and Rose didn't think she could remember seeing Erin this happy since her grandmother had passed. Al finally gave her a smile, unable to do anything else when so much joy was radiating off of Erin.

"We should celebrate," he said, and Scorpius nodded in agreement, pouring his own mug of cocoa.

"How?" Erin asked, still smiling but curious.

"However you want," Al said with a shrug. "You're the first one of us to actually land a job once we're done here. That should be commemorated."

Erin tilted her head in thought, a smile still playing at her lips before she grinned at all of them.

"Actually, there is something I've always wanted to do."

* * *

"This is bloody insane," Rose grumbled under her breath, shivering slightly from the cold. Erin's brilliant idea had been to ice skate on the frozen black lake at night. Al had gone to her dad and asked permission, to which consent was readily given, with the understanding that Rose and Scorpius were supervising the outing, and no more than the four of them were allowed out there.

So that's how Scorpius found himself chuckling at a miserable Rose on a snowy Saturday night.

"Cheer up. It's for Erin. She deserves this after the year she's had."

They watched as Erin pulled on her second skate before standing and quickly making her way towards the lake. Al was right behind her a second later. Laughter echoed across the grounds as Erin glided along the ice, and Rose's disgruntled demeanor quickly melted. She sat down next to Scorpius, who almost had his own skates on, and began to pull on her own. The original plan had just been to let Erin skate, but Neville had flooed home to grab her skates and returned with three other pairs as well, which Rose, Al, and Scorpius were able to shrink and enlarge to fit.

"I haven't done this since I was a kid," Rose said nervously, and Scorpius gave a light chuckle.

"Don't worry. It'll be just like riding a broom."

They made their way onto the ice, and Rose had to steady herself by grabbing his arm a few times before she got the hang of it. Eventually, she was enjoying the feel of the cold air against her face as she skated in laps around the lake. At one point, Al had thought it was a good idea for them to race across the ice, which he of course won. Erin had accused him of cheating, saying he'd grabbed her arm and pushed off before they started, which led to a rematch between the two of them. Al only won by a slight margin.

They'd been out there for what felt like hours and Scorpius' feet were numb by the time he collapsed into the snow on the edge of the lake. Rose joined him a moment later, watching as Al and Erin skated around each other, Erin occasionally giving him a shove to try and knock him over, at which he'd laugh and skate away.

"I didn't know Al could skate so well," Scorpius commented as Rose tugged off her skates.

"I think his family did it a lot with the Longbottoms growing up. They have that pond at their house. I never liked it that much and neither did Mum so I don't have as much experience."

They were silent for a moment as Scorpius worked off his skates as well.

"What about you?" asked Rose. "You were pretty steady out there yourself."

Scorpius smiled. "We have a pond at the Manor as well."

"Really?" Rose asked in surprise. "I didn't notice it."

Scorpius chuckled. "Extensive would be a good way to describe the size of the grounds. Did you notice the line of trees out back?"

"The ones past the field that made up your backyard?" she asked incredulously. He nodded.

"It's just a ways past those."

Scorpius did his best not to laugh as Rose's eyes widened in surprise.

"It was a bit of a trek as a kid," he said with a smile, and Rose shook her head as a smile formed on her own lips.

"I bet it's beautiful out there too," she said, her eyes roaming the surrounding grounds and eventually drifting up towards the sky, taking in the inky black expanse that was spattered with stars.

"Yeah," he said in a quiet tone, watching her as she sat by his side. "Maybe I'll show you sometime."

Her head turned towards Scorpius and she looked up at him with delighted eyes.

"I'd like that," she said with a smile, and he grinned back.

They say together in comfortable silence that was only broken when Rose hollered out to the other two that it was time to head back in.

"Do you feel celebrated enough?" Scorpius asked as Erin and Al lazily skated towards them. She let out a happy sigh, closing her eyes as if to soak in the moment.

"I say a trip to the kitchens for some refreshments will cap the evening off nicely."

Rose let out a groan. "Can't we just-"

"Nope," Erin cut her off. "Kitchens is tradition."

They all trudged up to the castle, making their way towards the kitchens. Soon, they were all sitting at a table, warmed by their varied cups of tea and cocoa and coffee, a few plates of pastries set between them.

"It's not like we should be that surprised," Al was saying around a custard tart. "You've always been brilliant at Potions. I just always assumed Herbology."

Scorpius had asked Erin what she was most excited about in regard to her apprenticeship, and she'd explained how much she was looking forward to actually having the freedom to do what a simple Potions class wouldn't let her. Al almost seemed to be beating himself up for his ignorance.

"Most people did," Erin said with a shrug, licking some chocolate off her finger before popping the second half of an eclair into her mouth. "But getting anything remotely close to this seemed so unlikely, and people can't be disappointed for you if they don't know what you were hoping for. I just decided not to correct anyone."

"Is it going to be weird?" Rose asked Scorpius. "Her working with your dad?"

Scorpius shook his head as he chewed through a cinnamon roll, and Erin visibly relaxed a bit, showing she'd been slightly worried about this.

"I don't think so. He's actually a pretty good teacher. Really patient."

"Definitely going to need to be."

Erin flicked a nut at Al with a scowl while he just grinned innocently as it bounced off his chest.

"Anyway," Scorpius said with a light chuckle. "I'm glad he's expanding things, especially in this direction. He told me over Christmas that he would have pursued Healing after he took his N.E.W.T.s if he'd been able."

"Really?" asked Erin, "No wonder he seemed so thrilled with the idea."

"What about you, Rose?" Al asked, turning to look at her from his seat beside her. "Any leads yet?"

"No," she said with a sigh. "I wrote to a few places over Christmas that have junior positions and internships, but I haven't heard anything. Malcolm said he has some connections and that he'd help me make some, but I wanted to try a bit on my own first."

"Nothing wrong with using your connections," said Al, picking through their depleting tray of sweets. "I'm pretty sure all three of us have, in one way or another."

"I know," she said, glancing at each of them in turn. "And I probably will. Just didn't feel right to not at least try on my own first."

Rose was actually doing a relatively good job not panicking about the future. Most of that was because, at the end of the day, she knew she had those connections. If she failed to get something in the area she wanted right off the bat, her mother was the Minister of Magic. There were any number of desk jobs at the Ministry she could take. As much as she hated using family connections, she realized she might have to. She still couldn't help but worry about the unknown aspect of it all, but her biggest concern was that she would go through all this trouble to take her Ancient Runes O.W.L., only to not ever be able to use it.

But as Scorpius laughed at Al, who was struggling to get some custard off his chin, and Erin shook her head while handing him a napkin, she forgot about the stress of the future. It was moments like these that she'd been talking about towards the end of her sixth year, that day in the library when she first saw a spark of something between her and her best friend. She wanted to take every moment and make sure they mattered. Because they did. They'd never be here again, and she was already beginning to feel nostalgia for nights like this. Maybe they'd continue to be in each other's lives, but it would be different. And maybe different would be good, but so was what they had today, and she didn't want to miss a second of it.

They stayed and talked about everything and nothing, laughing and teasing each other before it was simply too late for it to be reasonable to stay up any longer. Leaving the kitchens, Al headed towards the dungeon, and Erin eventually separated from them as well. Rose and Scorpius were left to walk in companionable silence all the way up to the seventh floor.

"We'll have to come up with something to do for you and Al as well," said Rose as they reached the common room. "Once you get your acceptance letters."

"Probably have to do something for you first," said Scorpius as the portrait hole closed behind them. "We'll be accepted pending our exam results. A little hard to celebrate with that hanging over you."

Scorpius looked sick at the thought of waiting, and Rose let out a light chuckle. "When have you ever had to worry about exam results?"

"I worry," he insisted. "I just hide it better than you."

He laughed as Rose stuck her tongue out at him, unwrapping her scarf from around her neck with a groan.

"I'm going to be sore in the morning. I hope Erin realizes how much we love her."

He chuckled as they both made their way towards their dorms.

"Rose?"

She stopped halfway through the doorway to see Scorpius had done the same. She raised her brow in question.

"I know it's scary, not knowing what's out there and what's going to happen."

She nodded, not that surprised that he knew where her mind had been for most of the night.

"But you're Rose Weasley. You're made of tough enough stuff to get through anything."

He was looking at her with a mix of pride and determination. Even if she didn't think she could do something, she knew right then that she'd always have Scorpius telling her she could. And as she gave a grateful laugh and thanked him, she felt she really didn't need much more than that.

* * *

 **A/N: Finally they're all just having fun together! I sort of love this chapter. Lots going on as well! Sending those lovely reviews my way would make my day! This chapter also brings up quite a few snapshots I have written. We will see Caleb and Lily when get together and I will be posting a snapshot of the incident Erin mentions with Lily and Caleb at the Christmas party as well as one of the conversation Erin mentions that takes place between herself and Al during the snowball fight so keep your eyes open for those! I'm also planning on doing one after that of the wedding from Erin's POV.**


	37. We got one last chance to make it real

A week later it was February, and Scorpius was having a hard time believing they were already a month into his last term at Hogwarts. He'd approached his position as Head Boy with confidence since they'd been back, and he and Rose were working together better than ever. Carter Brighton had replaced Devon Shepard as prefect, who was still going home most weekends and kept to himself otherwise, so the tension that had been present at meetings all last term had evaporated. They were going to have their first one for the month after dinner, but first, it was time to celebrate Erin once again. They typically did a big group dinner for whatever birthdays they could, and Erin's happened to be on a Sunday, which made it easier for everyone to be able to participate.

She'd been given a few gifts from the people she was closest to, except Al, who said he'd give her his later. They had gathered at the Gryffindor table, and Lily and Hugo had run up and down it collecting all of the cornish pasties they could find, which were Erin's favorite. Everyone was talking over everyone else as they joked and laughed, and it wasn't long before Al brought up the upcoming Quidditch match that would be taking place in two weeks. With a roll of her eyes, Erin quickly put a stop to it.

"How about part of my gift be that you _don't_ talk about Quidditch today?" she said with a pointed look. He gave a guilty grin from his place across from her, but he managed to turn it into a smirk.

"Just for today, and just because it's you," said Al, and Erin gave him a pleased smile.

"Can we talk about what's going on over there?" asked Jill from her seat beside Al. She nodded towards where Alice, who'd come for her sister's birthday, had made her way up to the staff table and was sitting next to Malcolm Bray rather closely. Erin grinned.

"They're seeing each other and that's all I'm going to say about that."

Jill pouted, obviously wanting more information, but Erin was a fierce protector of her sister's privacy. She hadn't even told Scorpius and Al the details she'd learned during her day spent with her sister a few weeks previously.

"Molly won't tell me much about her and Ethan either," said Jill, an expectant look on her face.

"Anyone ever tell you you're a horrible gossip?" said Rose. She was sitting across from Scorpius and next to Erin. She rolled her eyes at him in amusement as Jill ignored the comment.

"He writes her every week. You should see how-"

" _Jill!"_ came a holler from down the table, and she looked guiltily towards her best friend.

"Stop pestering other people about _my_ life," Molly insisted, before turning back to her pudding and trying to hide her blush.

"I couldn't tell you anything even if I wanted to," Erin told Jill, and this seemed to abate the younger girl's curiosity.

"Are you two still planning on coming to work on our Transfiguration essays in the common room tonight?" Rose asked Al and Erin, who gave her a pointed look.

"How about a part of your gift is that we don't talk about school?"

Rose looked scandalized that she'd been silenced, but Al grinned and assured her they'd be there.

"You have the books we need after all," he said

"Seeing as the next weekend is...occupied," said Scorpius, careful not to mention Quidditch. "Do we want to go to Hogsmeade this coming one? It's an actual weekend for the whole school but we could brave the crowd. Maybe go to the Three Broomsticks?"

Rose and Erin nodded, but Al seemed to be struggling with something.

"Actually," he forced out, running a hand through his hair as his cheeks turned the faintest pink, so subtle that Scorpius wouldn't have been able to tell if he weren't next to him. He was looking down as Scorpius, Rose, and Erin watched him curiously.

"I sort of-"

"Happy Birthday, Erin."

Everyone's attention was instantly pulled to the seventh year Hufflepuff who now stood behind Erin. Harrison Hughes had always been the rather skittish type, and all his nervous energy was almost causing him to shake as he looked down at Erin with wide eyes.

"Thanks, Harrison," said Erin, giving him a small smile. The rather timid Hufflepuff had taken quite a shine to Erin when they'd worked on their group project for Muggle Studies. He wasn't the most socially adept person, or the most well groomed, but he was nice and friendly when he wanted to be. No matter how much Erin had complained to him about the attention, Scorpius knew she'd never go out of her way to be rude to their classmate.

"Was there something else?" she asked politely when he didn't speak or leave. He gave her a nervous smile.

"This coming weekend is a Hogsmeade one, and, I mean, that doesn't make much of a difference for us. I mean we could go just about any old weekend. But I thought it would be a good time, you know?"

Everyone who hadn't been paying attention when he showed up now was. Erin's eyes had widened while Harrison stumbled through his words.

Scorpius glanced around the table when the deafening silence registered. Jill was watching with a dropped jaw. Lily and Lucy were whispering to each other while paying close attention. Caleb and Louis and Molly were staring at the poor boy in shock. And Bobby, Hugo and Charlotte were all watching Al, who was staring coldly at the scene in front of him. Erin was turned in her seat to look at Harrison, so she couldn't see that Al was probably only seconds away from cursing Harrison's head off. Scorpius glanced at Rose, who was staring at him while throwing glances at Al with wide eyes, trying very hard not to intervene.

"What I mean to say," the Hufflepuff continued. "Is that I was wondering if you'd like to go with me. To Hogsmeade, that is. On Saturday."

From what Scorpius could see of Erin's profile, her mouth had opened in surprise as she struggled to come up with something to say. Harrison looked so hopeful, and Scorpius knew Erin well enough to gather that she was trying her best to come up with something to say that was equal parts kind and not misleading. He cast a sideways glance at Al, to see he was gripping his fork tightly and breathing heavily. Scorpius was just thankful his wand had remained in his pocket.

"Harrison, I'm flattered, really," Erin began, and her voice sounded almost apologetic. "But I can't."

"Oh," he said, hanging his head a bit, but he hadn't quite thrown in the towel yet. "Some other time, then?"

Erin slowly shook her head. "I'm sorry, but no. I can't."

"Okay," he said, his face now curious. "Are you seeing someone? I hadn't realized."

She paused, and everyone at the table held their breath, most of them shooting a glance at Al. Scorpius saw the muscles in Erin's neck clench, as if she were restraining herself from turning to look at Al herself, but she kept her gaze forward. Al's expression hadn't changed.

"It's not about that," she finally said, and Scorpius heard a few people down the table groan at the missed opportunity for one of them to finally own up to what was going on between Erin and Al.

"Then what is it?" Harrison asked, his head tilted in confusion. "I thought-"

"Whatever it was, you thought wrong."

Every eye at the table snapped to Al, who'd spoken in a calmer voice than Scorpius had expected. Erin had whipped her head around and was now staring at him, her expression unreadable as he continued.

"She doesn't owe you an explanation, so you can back off, Hughes. Besides," he paused long enough to glance at Erin, "she's with me."

He said it with such conviction, that Scorpius could hardly believe this was the first time he'd owned it. The silence that had reigned at the table started to dissolve as a few people gasped and others whispered amongst themselves.

"Oh, alright then," said Harrison with a nervous smile. Erin whipped around to give him an apologetic look as he gave her an awkward wave. "See you around."

He walked away, not seeming too put out, but definitely disappointed. But nobody cared about that. Everyone was looking between Al and Erin, who was looking at the young wizard across from her with more fury than Scorpius had expected. He assumed she'd be upset, but she looked positively livid. Her hands were gripping the table and her wavy hair that had been pulled back in a plait was starting to unravel. Al had gone back to his food after Hughes had walked away and hadn't noticed the way her gaze was burning into the top of his head. Scorpius quickly jabbed him with his elbow. Al flinched and shot him a look. With wide eyes, Scorpius jerked his head towards Erin, and Al looked up at her. His eyes comically jumped open in surprise.

"What-?"

"What the _hell_ is wrong with you?" Erin practically snarled at him. "You had no right to do or say what you just did."

Scorpius wanted to smack Al in the back of the head for the completely astounded look he wore.

"I'm sorry?" he said uncertainly. Erin took a deep breath to steady herself.

"Why did you tell him that?"

"Tell him what?"

She rolled her eyes. "You basically told him we're together."

Al seemed taken aback. "Aren't we?"

Erin let out a sound of disbelief, her mouth open in astonishment.

"No!"

Al looked completely gobsmacked, and Scorpius was starting to wonder if something had gotten lost in translation. He knew this was all going to dissolve into a bit of a mess eventually.

"You know what, Al?" said Erin, shaking her head in resignation. "You could really learn something from Harrison Hughes. At least he had the guts to ask."

With a disappointed look on her face, Erin quickly stood up from the table before swiftly making her way out of the Great Hall. Al called after her, but she never turned around and only sped up her pace.

Al gave a huff of annoyance and stood from the table, but Rose reached across and grabbed his arm, stopping him before he could walk away.

"Al, maybe you shouldn't."

"No, Rose," he said, throwing off her grip. "I'm tired of all this shite and I thought it was behind us, but apparently I was wrong."

"What do you mean?" Scorpius asked, and Al sighed, sitting back down so he was straddling the bench.

"I mean that I thought we'd sorted this out over Christmas. So I need to talk to her."

Scorpius nodded at the sincere yet confused look on Al's face. No one else stopped him, and he practically ran out of the Great Hall.

"It's about time one of them said something," Lily commented from down the table.

"Sure picked a bad way to do it," said Louis.

"There goes our study plans for the evening," Rose mumbled. "Are we supposed to do anything?" she asked, leaning across the table to whisper to Scorpius. He gave an uncertain shrug.

"Maybe give it a few minutes? In case they're in the corridors or something?"

Rose nodded, letting out a sigh as she poked at her pudding with her spoon. "I hope they can sort this out. Al's an idiot if he thinks he can just assume nothing needs to be said. Erin was right; she deserves for him to tell her exactly how he feels."

"What about her?" Scorpius couldn't help but ask. "She's never said anything either."

"But it's Erin," Rose argued. "She buries everything unless you pry it out of her. He should know better than to expect her to be the one to say something first."

"That still doesn't mean she's off the hook."

Rose took a bite of her pudding before responding, looking slightly disgruntled.

"Isn't it the boy who's supposed to do the asking?"

"How traditional of you," he couldn't help but say with a smirk. Rose narrowed her eyes at him.

"Fine. But if you remember correctly, she did make the first move. And I do recall him saying something about her never showing him how she felt right before she did it. He should have caught on a long time ago."

She did have a point there. But none of that mattered; the who said or did what and where. At least they were having it out. Scorpius just hoped that, at the very least, their friendship made it to the other side.

"Girls are bloody hard to read, though," Scorpius couldn't help but comment. "It's sort of hard to tell the difference between them just caring about you as a friend and wanting something more."

They looked at each other for a moment, and he could sense Rose was well aware of what he was getting at. He was fairly certain he had an inkling about how she felt; she wasn't exactly the hardest person to read. But he'd meant what he said. Sometimes it got difficult to tell whether or not she just cared for him as a friend, or whether it was more. He didn't have much to compare their friendship to. Her other closest male friends were cousins. What she'd said in her dorm the other night was the biggest clue yet, but there was still something eating at him that made him unsure. He just wished he knew what it was.

His misgivings were momentarily forgotten a second later when she smiled shyly at him, continuing to eat her pudding.

"You can always take a leaf out of Harrison's book, and ask."

* * *

Rose and Scorpius were heading back to their common room after the prefects meeting. She'd tried very hard not to be distracted through the whole thing, but their little exchange at the end of dinner was playing on repeat in her mind. Had she been a little too bold in her suggestion? Was he even talking about her? Of course, the logical conclusion was that he was, but it still lingered in the back of her mind that it could be someone like Riley Clarke that he was referring to.

But that was silly. He told her she had no reason to be jealous. Unless he just meant as a friend? She felt a bit idiotic; talking herself into the fact that he might like her and then right back out again. It would be a hell of a lot easier if one of them actually decided to straight up say something one way or the other. He'd said on Halloween that they would talk about it eventually, but that didn't mean they both felt the same way. That he wanted to be with her the way she wanted to be with him.

Despite everything that had happened the past few months, that was the one thing that really hadn't changed for Rose. He'd made mistakes and she'd made mistakes and things hadn't always been easy and they were downright difficult and painful at times. But she'd never lost sight of the person he was: her best friend. A person who was kind, ambitious, a leader, and a loyal friend. These things and many more were what drew her to him, and he'd been showing them all in abundance the last few weeks. It made it very difficult to think straight at times. Especially when he was speaking to the prefects with authority, his arms crossed and his shirt sleeves rolled up to the elbow so that his strong forearms grabbed her attention. The way he talked with a smooth confidence that had faded for a while, but was now back to full strength.

Maybe she should be the one to say something. It was possible that he hadn't said anything because he was unsure of where he stood with her after everything that had happened. Then again, maybe it was too soon after all that.

Her head hurt just thinking about it all. More likely than not, she was overthinking everything. She should just stop focusing on all of that right now and pay attention to what he was saying to her as they made their way up to the seventh floor. It only took her a moment to realize he was talking about his cousin.

"He's been different since the holidays, but almost in a good way. Like he's strangely matured."

"Any clue as to why?" Rose asked. Scorpius gave a shrug, his brow furrowed.

"Not sure. Maybe it made an impression on him that I could have faced some serious consequences. He's always been a bit cavalier about the rules, but he's been steering clear of Prince and some of the others who cause trouble."

"That's good, right?"

"Sure," said Scorpius. "I just didn't expect it. And I don't want him to punish himself for getting me in trouble 'cause it wasn't his fault. I feel like he's doing what he can to make sure he doesn't have any fun at all."

They made it to the seventh floor and strolled at a leisurely pace towards the common room.

"I'm sure he's not doing that," said Rose. Scorpius gave her a pointed look.

"He's been going to bed at curfew and pretty much all I ever see him do is study. Even Riley is concerned and she never cares much about anything."

Rose gave the portrait of Margaret the password and they entered the common room. She was about to ask if he planned on doing anything about his cousin's odd behavior, when she noticed their common room was already occupied.

Erin was sitting with her back against the couch, a Transfiguration book open in her lap and various others scattered across the floor along with parchment and quills. This wasn't all that odd, but what really made Rose pause was the fact that Al was sitting on the couch right behind Erin, currently plaiting her hair. Rose glanced at Scorpius, who was far too perplexed by the sight to keep his thoughts to himself.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked, his voice more confused than accusatory. Erin looked up at him.

"We said we were working on Transfiguration tonight, right?"

"I meant _that,"_ Scorpius clarified, gesturing to Al, who glanced up at him as he continued to do Erin's hair.

"It was coming unraveled so I'm fixing it. Mum used to make me do Lily's all the time when we were younger and her hair was longer. I got pretty good at it."

He secured the end, said a triumphant, "done!" and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. She looked up and thanked him with a smile. Rose and Scorpius tentatively moved forwards as Al made his way off the couch and onto the floor next to Erin.

"I'm guessing you two made up?" Rose asked as she lowered herself to the floor across from Al, Scorpius sitting somewhere to her left. Erin nodded, only glancing up briefly before keeping her attention on her text book.

"Yes, all fine. Did Ogden say she wanted twenty inches or twenty-two? I can't remember."

Rose let out a huff of frustration as Al answered Erin's question, starting to look through one of the books himself. She felt Scorpius shift uncomfortably next to her, before he too started looking through the various sources for their essay.

"That's it?" Rose asked. "You two have a bit of a blow up in the Great Hall and all we get is 'all fine?'"

Erin gave an amused roll of her eyes.

"Do you want us to rehash the whole thing for you? Or will an abridged version do?"

"Whichever you prefer."

"You know," Erin said, turning to look at Al, "most couples don't have to put up with this type of questioning."

"Most couples don't have Rose butting in," Al said with an amused smirk.

Erin chuckled. "Most couples also aren't idiots for months before they actually get their act together either. We shouldn't be surprised by the questions."

"So you're together?" Scorpius asked impatiently. Al nodded, but his eyes were on Erin as they both smiled brightly. Scorpius chuckled and shook his head.

"About time."

Al and Erin laughed along with him while Rose gave an exasperated sigh. This didn't go unnoticed by Erin, who turned to her with an apologetic smile.

"We'll talk later, alright?"

Placated, Rose nodded and gave her a small smile. The intricacies of teenage romance momentarily forgotten, they got to work on their essay that was due on Tuesday, and worked until it was time for Al and Erin to leave if they wanted to make it back by curfew.

"I think I'll stay with Rose tonight," Erin told Al as they packed up their things before she looked at Rose in question. "If that's alright?"

Rose nodded and Al left a few moments later, though not before giving Erin a swift kiss in parting, causing her cheeks to pink up ever so slightly. Scorpius settled in on the couch to do some reading for History of Magic, and the girls retreated to Rose's room. Pulling out her wand, Rose put up some privacy charms before resting it on her nightstand and plopping down on her bed. Erin had come in behind her and was leaning with her back against the closed door, a dreamy look on her face.

"I don't think you've stopped smiling all evening," said Rose, and Erin flushed, her expression growing slightly timid as she moved to join Rose on the bed and sitting towards the end. Rose scooted back so she was leaning against the headboard and stretched her legs out, immediately relaxing and realizing how tired she actually was, though not tired enough to be uninterested in the conversation she was about to have with her best friend.

"What happened?" Rose asked. "You were so furious at dinner, I assumed you two would be on less than pleasant terms for awhile."

"I did too," said Erin, her face showing her slight disbelief in the current situation. "Maybe we still would be if he weren't so damn charming."

Rose chuckled and shook her head in bafflement. Erin was _still_ smiling, when she would have normally scrunched up her face in annoyance.

"So," Rose said, sitting up and pulling her knees up to rest her chin on them, wrapping her arms around her legs with an expectant expression. Erin let out a sigh, falling back on the bed to stare up at the canopy.

"I _was_ upset. I thought he decided that, rather than actually say something to me, he thought it best just to assume everything was settled between us and chose to declare it to the whole of Hogwarts rather than say anything to me about it. Turns out, he thought he'd already asked."

"He mentioned something about you two settling it over Christmas," said Roes, "right before he went after you."

Erin nodded. "Remember how I told you we ran into each other in the woods?"

Rose gave a nod of affirmation.

"Well…" Erin continued. "He said some things that were definitely more… forward… than anything he'd said up until that point. I just failed to see the whole picture."

"Which was?"

Erin sighed and rolled to her side, propping her head up in her hand. "He went on about how much it meant that I was so supportive of him, and I think the book I gave him helped him see that. And that it meant so much knowing that I'd be there for him once we left school. Then he asked me if I actually would be there. I assumed he just meant in general, because I wouldn't really let myself think he meant otherwise. Turns out, he did."

Rose's jaw dropped open in surprise.

"You mean Al's thought for more than a month now that you two were firmly together, and you had no idea?"

"Pretty much," said Erin, Rose's disbelief mirrored on her own face. "Which makes sense when I think about how he acted at the wedding."

"What happened at the wedding?" asked Rose, surprised that there was still more to the story.

"Nothing much, really," said Erin, "but he was awful caring and considerate and seemed to really want to be affectionate in front of everyone. More than he's been before. I sort of spurned most of his advances and now I feel horrible that I've been so distant from him lately. I was just frustrated that we were in the exact same place we had been for months and he just wasn't saying anything and I had no clue why, when it turns out, he thought he already had. It was sort of difficult to stay mad at him after that."

Rose could understand that. She could also understand why Erin had been so frustrated about the lack of change in her relationship with Albus. It was rather similar to the place Rose felt she was in now, although she couldn't find an instance where he might have said something that she would have missed. And Scorpius was a lot more forthcoming than Al. He'd be sure she knew exactly what he was saying if he ever made any professions of feelings or intent.

"Anyway," Erin continued with a sigh, laying back down on the bed. "We argued for a bit until I realized I'd misunderstood him, and then asked him to be perfectly honest. It took a bit, but, when he finally went for it…"

Rose couldn't help but grin as Erin trailed off, her eyes staring unseeingly up at the canopy above her as she reminisced about whatever had taken place between her and Al.

"You don't have to tell me," Rose said, and Erin turned her head to look at her in question.

"That part isn't really any of my business. As long as this is what you want and you're both happy, there's nothing else I need to know."

Erin grinned at her. "I told him I was falling for him."

Rose's eyes widened and Erin laughed at the shocked look on her face.

"I didn't say 'love', but it was implied. Bloody hell, I'd never been quite that nervous in my entire life. But it was worth it."

"I think asking if you're happy is a bit unnecessary then?" Rose asked, and Erin just laughed again. It was so refreshing to see her this happy, and it still boggled Rose's mind to think that her idiotic, and sometimes prat of a cousin, was the one responsible.

* * *

 **A/N: FINALLY. Before you get too disappointed that you didn't get to see the confrontation between Al and Erin, I will be posting that chapter in Snapshots of Faith in just a bit! It'll be chapter 11 and it will be the third chapter I've posted in that story today. I already put up the chapter about Al and Erin at the wedding as well as one about Alice and Malcolm at the wedding. Hope you enjoyed this! I sure had fun writing it :)**

 **Looking forward to your reviews!**


	38. You can't start a fire without a spark

Slytherin had their second match of the season two weeks later and Rose and Erin were sitting in the Gryffindor stands, a few members of their own house team nearby as well as other friends and family members. Al had mentioned to Erin that it would be nice if his girlfriend actually cheered for him, but she'd made no promises and refused to wear anything Slytherin. However, they were halfway through the match and Rose felt certain she was going to have a bruised thigh thanks to the number of times Erin had reached out and gripped it whenever Al made a move like he was going after the snitch or dodging a bludger.

Scorpius was flying brilliantly, like he usually did. Rose had wondered for a time if he would consider a career in Quidditch, but she knew he wouldn't be happy doing that. As they'd talked more about his decision to become an Auror, Rose began to see more and more how much it made sense. He was determined and ambitious, smart and calculating - even if his decision making had been a little less than exemplary not too long ago. Through all that, he'd still carried himself with purpose.

It had been remarkable to continue to see the way he'd grown since they'd come back to school. Even these past two weeks had shown a marked difference. Rose couldn't say if there was something specific that had caused it, but she had a strong feeling that the source of it all was the fact that for the first time, he fully accepted who he was, even the parts that were beyond his control. Not only that, but he'd discovered even more so who he was in his decision to become an Auror. That had done more for his confidence in leaps and bounds than anything else, Rose was sure of it.

Did it still slightly terrify her to think of him going to work everyday and never knowing what state he would come home in? Yes. Especially because she couldn't fully be there to take care of him. It had come as a shock to her the first time she thought of the future in that way. Rose had images swirling through her brain of various scenarios where she would be waiting for Scorpius to get back from whatever mission or assignment he'd been on, and in every one of them, he'd come home to _her_. She'd be able to know that he was alright and care for any scrapes and bruises he might have while he told her about whatever he'd gotten himself into.

Rose blushed whenever her mind formed these images, because it reminded her of how her mother had cared for her father when he was still an Auror. He had retired the year before Rose went off to Hogwarts, and she could still recall the difference between the days when her dad was just working at the Ministry, and the ones when he was out on a mission. Her mother would be more on edge during those days, which was most likely due to a time when Ron had been so badly injured during a raid, that he'd had a week long stay in St. Mungo's.

Rose was only five years old at the time, but she could still remember seeing her father in the hospital bed, tubes attached to him as potions were constantly administered in an effort to heal him, his arm in a sling and the parts of his face that weren't covered in bruises paler than normal. To this day, she wasn't entirely sure what had happened to him, because it had terrified her so much that she'd never been brave enough to ask. It was probably one of the reasons Scorpius' decision made her nervous. She didn't want the think about that too much, but she had a feeling that it would come up eventually, especially if things between her and Scorpius actually managed to take off.

However, none of this was on Rose's mind as she watched the Slytherin Quidditch team slaughter Ravenclaw, whose only saving grace all season had been Patrick Allen, their Seeker. He had been good enough to catch the Snitch when they played Hufflepuff, even though they'd ultimately lost, but he'd never managed to beat Al in all the years they'd flown against each other.

"This makes me feel great about our chances in the last match of the year," said Caleb, watching closely as Scorpius managed to get yet another goal past the Ravenclaw Keeper.

"They don't play again till then, though," Louis pointed out. "Lots of time to get their act together."

The two of them along with Lily were sitting in front of Rose and Erin, studying the match rather than watching it. Hugo and Bobby were over in the Hufflepuff stands with Charlotte and Lucy, and Molly and Jill were cheering on their house from the Ravenclaw section.

"I don't see Fisher getting much better at guarding those hoops," Lily pointed out. "Unless he realizes how much he drifts to the right. It's amazing his captain hasn't pointed it out."

Caleb did a slightly comical double take, watching as Eddie Marsh caught a pass from Scorpius before he too gave Slytherin another ten points, the Quaffle soaring past Fisher's left hand side. As Slytherin cheered, Caleb looked at Lily in surprise.

"I hadn't even noticed that."

Lily adjusted herself in her seat, obviously pleased that he seemed impressed.

"Yes, well, you were too busy watching the Chasers," she said, keeping her eyes on the match.

He grinned at her smug expression, leaning in slightly closer.

"I'm more a fan of Seekers, actually."

He turned back to face the match, and Rose couldn't help but think how lucky they were that on Caleb's other side, Louis was too engrossed in the game to notice his best friend's comment and Lily's blush. Nor did he catch Caleb moving his hand to rest on Lily's where it gripped the bench between them. It was actually quite impressive to Rose, the way Caleb was able to turn towards Louis and ask him a question about the match in a perfectly calm demeanor, all while Lily rotated her hand over so she could slip her fingers between her boyfriend's.

Rose chuckled and turned to Erin.

"You'd think that-"

But she was unable to finish her comment as Erin sprung up from the bench and began cheering loudly. Rose returned her attention to the match just in time to see Al wrap his fingers around the Snitch before pulling out of a rather spectacular dive, Patrick a few feet behind him. The Slytherin's erupted into cheers along with Erin, who was getting some less than pleased looks from the members of her house.

"So much for never cheering for Slytherin," Rose hollered up at her. Erin immediately paused in her cheering, her cheeks turning pink as she realized what she had done. She glanced around in fear before dropping back onto the bench beside Rose and burying her head in her hands as the crowd began to disperse.

"I can't believe I'm one of _those_ girls," she mumbled into her palms. Rose chuckled goodnaturedly, standing and grabbing Erin's arm. She gave it a tug and Erin looked up at her with a defeated expression.

"Come on," said Rose with a nod towards the pitch. "He'll be insufferable, but it'll mean a lot to him if you actually show some support."

Erin gave a small smile and allowed Rose to pull her down to the pitch. They had to wait a few minutes before the crowd dispersed enough that they were able to approach the Slytherin Quidditch team. Al had his back to them and was talking rather animatedly with a few of his housemates, but Scorpius saw them coming and moved through the crowd to greet them.

"You were brilliant," Rose said, accepting his hug as he beamed in delight. Erin embraced him as well, but she was preoccupied with her observation of the back of her boyfriend's head. Scorpius caught on and gave her a cheeky grin.

"Any chance that was you I heard screaming just before he caught the Snitch?"

Erin's face turned bright red before she regained her composure and narrowed her eyes at a laughing Scorpius. He shook his head in amusement as they continued to watch Al be bombarded by well wishers. Erin began to look like she was starting to second guess herself.

"Maybe we should-"

"Al!" Scorpius hollered before she could completely lose her nerve, and the Slytherin Seeker immediately turned at the sound of his best friend's voice. His questioning look didn't stay on Scorpius for long, as his eyes were quickly drawn to the blonde Gryffindor standing timidly next to him. His already excited features lit up even more as he dropped his broom and rushed at her, enveloping her in his arms and spinning her around a few times. Erin had let out a squeal of either delight or terror as she gripped him back, but she was smiling up at him when he set her back down.

"If I tell you something, will you promise not to be an insufferable prat?"

He shook his head, trying to hold in his grin of delight. Erin gave a sigh of exasperation, looking at him with the hint of a smile as her hands moved to rest on either side of his neck.

"Congratulations. You were amaz-"

She didn't get to finish as Al swooped down and kissed her. Not really caring to witness more than was necessary, Rose turned to look at Scorpius as Erin responded to Al's embrace. The blond Chaser was already looking at her with something close to determination in his eyes.

"What?" she asked, suddenly feeling self conscious thanks to his penetrating stare.

"There's a victory party in the Slytherin common room. You're coming."

He said it with finality, but he still seemed nervous that she'd refuse. Rose thought back to a moment from a few months ago - one that was very similar to this - and knew she wanted to do things differently this time.

"Okay," she said automatically, surprising both of them with the conviction in her response. His eyes lit up as he grinned at her.

"Brilliant. We need to go change and get cleaned up, and the party won't even really be in full swing for another hour at least. You know where it is, yeah?"

She nodded. While she'd never been in the common room, there had been a few times when they'd done rounds and she'd seen students returning to the Slytherin dorms.

"Why don't you come meet us at…" he paused and gripped her wrist, pushing back the sleeve of her coat to look at her watch. "Half past four? There's normally someone outside to let other students in. "

She nodded and he dropped her wrist, grinning before turning to Al, who was now separated slightly from Erin, their hands linked together as he talked to her with a smile on his face.

"Al?" Scorpius called, jerking his head towards the changing rooms. With a nod and one last kiss on Erin's cheek, Al followed after Scorpius.

"Did he ask you to come?" Erin asked as they made their way up to the castle, and Rose looked at her in surprise.

"Yes. How'd you know?"

"Al said he was planning on it," she explained. "What did you say?"

"Well, he more _told_ me I was coming than asked," Rose said in amusement. "But I still told him I would."

Erin grinned, linking her arm through Rose's.

"Come on. We only have an hour to get you ready."

* * *

The party was in full swing an hour later, just like Scorpius had predicted. There was food and drinks that had been nicked from the kitchens - nothing contraband - and music was playing from an unidentifiable source. It was loud, but not to the point where you couldn't have a proper conversation if you wanted to.

Scorpius was sitting on the arm of one of the chairs by the fire, his leg bouncing up and down in agitation as he kept glancing at his watch.

"What's got you so worked up?" Riley asked as she came to join him and Al and Eddie by the fire.

"Rose is coming," Al responded for him, a smirk on his face as he popped a piece of fudge into his mouth. Riley's expression turned to one of intrigue.

"Really? What caused her to stoop to the likes of the snake pit?"

"Take it easy, alright?" said Scorpius, put out by her words. "That's not how she sees it."

"You sure?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. Scorpius nodded, but she sensed his hesitancy.

"It's none of your business, Clarke," he said in a dry tone. She didn't seem too affected by his rude tone, casting her glance around the room indifferently.

"Where's that prat you call a cousin?" asked Riley. "He's likely to lose any ounce of what little good qualities he has if he keeps this up."

She was referring, of course, to Corbin's continued insistence on keeping himself distant from just about everyone else. Scorpius had tried to talk to him on a few occasions, but he'd been spending less and less time in his house common room, so his opportunities were slim.

"Is he up in his dorm?" he asked Riley, and she gave a shrug, her eyes betraying the worry she actually felt for her friend. Momentarily putting aside the fact that Rose would be here any minute, he stood and made his way towards the hall that led to the boys dormitories, stopping when he reached the one for the sixth years. He rapped lightly on the door and managed to make out the sound of a greeting over the noise of the party, which deadened as he let himself in and closed the door behind him.

Corbin wasn't even doing any homework. He was lying on his back, one arm under his head and his legs stretched out in front of him as he gazed at the ceiling.

"Cor?"

He looked up at the sound of his cousins voice, his dark hair falling slightly into his eyes before he laid back down with a huff.

"What?"

Scorpius moved so he was looking down at his cousin, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Mind telling me why you keep moping?"

Corbin wouldn't look him in the eye, the frown that had seemed to be permanently etched onto his face lately turning into a look of defiance.

"I'm not moping."

"Then what are you doing?" Scorpius asked. Corbin was silent for a moment, twirling his wand between the fingers of his free hand.

"Punishing myself, I guess."

"For?"

Sighing, Corbin sat up and turned to face his cousin, his legs dangling off the side of the bed.

"You remember the end of last year? When you and Rose caught me and Alex and Dylan sneaking out?"

Scorpius nodded, unsure where this was going.

"You told me to not let you catch me again. I thought you were just being a prat with your whole 'rules are rules' thing, but if I'd listened to you, everything that happened at the end of last term might not have."

"How do you figure that?" asked Scorpius.

"Because if I'd listened, I would've realized there was no way in hell you would have snuck out with me on the last night of term. I would have stopped it."

"Corbin, you can't put that on yourself."

"Why not?" he challenged. "I saw what was happening last term. I know you well enough to know that you weren't acting like yourself. I should have said something, but I was bloody thrilled that you were actually spending time with me rather than scolding me, so I chose to ignore it. I was selfish and immature and I should have been a better friend to you."

Scorpius hardly knew what to say. He and Corbin had talked at Christmas about what had happened, but the younger boy hadn't seemed nearly this despondent.

"Cor, if Rose couldn't make me see sense, there's no way in hell you'd have been able to."

Corbin actually chuckled at this. "Maybe, but I should have at least tried."

In many ways, Scorpius could understand where his cousin was coming from. He'd carried things he didn't need to, and now Corbin was doing the same thing.

"You didn't seem this upset at Christmas. What changed?"

Corbin shrugged in confusion. "Not sure. I think it was how much Prince goaded you and Al at dinner the first night back. I've sort of always denied how much of a bastard he is because of my friendship with Riley, but he really is a prat, and no one should ever have let him dictate what it means to be a Slytherin."

Scorpius moved to sit next to his cousin, gripping his shoulder as he sat on the bed.

"First of all, don't force yourself to carry things you don't need to. Everything turned out alright, didn't it? You can still learn from it all, but you don't have to let it fundamentally change who you are."

Corbin seemed almost relieved by Scorpius' words, so he pushed on.

"Now, If there's one thing I've learned the past few months, it's that no one can tell you who to be. So I'm not going to tell you to get your arse downstairs and join the party. However," he paused and gave Corbin a shake so that he met his eyes. "You're not allowed to stay up here if the only reason for doing so is to wallow. Do what you want to do, not what you think you deserve."

Scorpius clapped him on the shoulder before standing.

"Choice is yours, but I'd really like you to come down and join your teammates. You played well today. You should enjoy that."

Corbin nodded, a slight smile returning to his face as Scorpius remembered something else his cousin had said.

"I'm sorry I never spent much time with you," he said sincerely. "I never meant for you to think I didn't care."

Corbin looked slightly embarrassed but waved him off.

"It's alright. I know you have other friends."

"But you're my family, and that's important."

He held Corbin's gaze for a moment, willing him to understand everything he'd told him, and eventually, Corbin nodded and stood.

"I guess I'll pop down for a bit."

Scorpius smiled, and together, they made their way back to the common room. He had to contain a smirk when he saw Riley casually standing at the end of the hall, a drink in her hand and an indifferent look on her face. But she'd noticed them. Scorpius moved past her to the drink table she was next to, but Corbin stopped in front of her, a shy smile on his face. She watched him with a hard look.

"Are you done being a prat?"

Corbin gave a slight nod, his lip twitching in amusement.

"Good," Riley said, downing her drink before grabbing him by the arm and pulling him into the party. Scorpius chuckled, glad to know that his cousin was in relatively good hands.

He turned to face the room and immediately spotted Al by the food table, his arm around Erin as she filled up a plate. His heart leapt into his throat, realizing that her presence meant Rose should be there too. He quickly scanned the crowd, wondering why she hadn't stuck with Erin and Al, and found her bush of red hair over by the fire. He quickly made his way towards her, stopping suddenly in surprise when he heard her laugh. It took him a few moments to start moving again, and he elbowed his way through the crowd until she was in sight.

Her back was to him and she was standing next to the hearth, her hair pulled half back. She'd changed out of the many layers she'd worn to keep warm at the match and was dressed simply in jeans and a light-weight jumper that was a dark green. It was all so simple, but so very Rose. He felt self conscious for a moment that he was only in track pants and a faded Slytherin practice jersey. He quickly shook the thought when he realized with a bit of surprise that Rose was talking to Elaine Goyle. It wasn't like the two had never gotten along, but other than the necessary times they'd communicated for prefect purposes, he'd never seen them interact.

Elaine noticed him and smiled, signaling him over. Rose looked over her shoulder and he felt his chest tighten as her smiling eyes met his. He moved closer, doing his best not too stare for too long at his best friend.

"Rose and I were just talking about how Ogden nearly had a conniption in class on Thursday. I thought for sure she'd never stop panicking long enough to fix Eddie's hand."

Scorpius shared in their chuckle, remembering back to when his teammate had accidentally transfigured his hand into a tree branch, when they were just meant to be changing the appearance of them to resemble bark.

"Her frazzled state was rather funny," Rose agreed. "Almost helped keep the rest of us from panicking more."

Elaine laughed in agreement. "I actually think Eddie deserves to be teased a little more, and you seem to be in good hands now."

With a small wave at Rose, Elaine moved to walk away, though not before giving Scorpius a subtle wink. Finally able to put his full attention on Rose, he smiled at her as she turned to face him fully.

"Sorry I was gone when you got here," he said. "But I think I finally got through to Corbin."

"That's great," she said with a pleased smile. There was a beat of silence, but it didn't feel awkward. It was just so strange for her to be there, he was having a difficult time wrapping his head around it.

"I'm really glad you came," Scorpius finally said. "Have you gotten anything to eat?"

She shook her head, still smiling at him, and he led her towards the refreshments.

"All the best from the Hogwarts kitchens," he said, waving his hand over the spread. She chuckled and picked up a plate.

"Malfoy," came a surly voice from over his shoulder. Scorpius felt Rose tense beside him as he turned to face Lucas Prince. He wasn't quite sneering, but his demeanor wasn't friendly. Scorpius hadn't gone out of his way to avoid him, but they'd both managed to keep their distance since the start of term feast.

"Nice game," he drawled. "Planning on making a career out of that skill?"

Scorpius shook his head, unsure why he was being asked this.

"That's too bad. Can't recall anything else you're useful for."

There was a clattering as Rose dropped her plate on the table, turning to face Prince with her hands on her hips.

"Shove off, Prince," snapped Rose. Prince looked highly amused at being addressed by her in this way. She was a good head shorter than him and he had a rather strong build. Rose was definitely outmatched physically.

"You drag the Head Girl around to keep you safe now?" he shot at Scorpius, giving Rose a condescending once over. "Can't say I'm surprised. You've never been able to do much for yourself."

"Shut up and stop acting like you actually know anything about him," said Rose. "You were never his friend."

Prince smirked at Rose, who was coming alive with rage, her eyes sparkling as she breathed heavily to control her inherited temper that was normally kept rather well in check.

"You're a feisty little thing," Prince said with a sneer, though he took a step closer to Rose. Acting on instinct, Scorpius stuck his arm out and quickly stepped between them.

"Watch it," Scorpius warned, his gaze hard and challenging. Prince seemed momentarily surprised, but recovered quickly, giving him a lazy smile.

"No worries, Malfoy. Just wanted a closer look."

Scorpius grabbed for his wand in his pants pocket, but Rose gripped his arm before he could draw it on Prince. Having caught the movement, Prince gave Scorpius a condescending smirk.

"You better watch yourself, Malfoy. She won't always be there to look out for you."

He turned and walked away, an obnoxious swagger in his step. Scorpius took a few calming breaths as he felt Rose's grip on his arm relax, but she didn't let go.

"Sorry," she said in a quiet voice, and he turned to look at her in question. Her brow was furrowed and she was worrying her lip between her teeth.

"I shouldn't have said anything. You were perfectly capable of handling that yourself. I hope he doesn't give you more trouble now."

Scorpius shook his head as her hands slipped down his arm to grip his hand.

"It's alright. He'd probably still be a prat either way."

The worry started to melt away from her face, and she released his hand, going back to the spread of food. There was still something bothering her, and Scorpius could read Rose well enough to tell it was going to eat away at her. He followed her down the table until she was done grabbing food, then he gently placed his hand on the small of her back.

Navigating through the crowd, he led her towards the back of the common room where the glowing green from the black lake was the only source of light. He sat down on one of the wide window sills and she joined him. It struck Scorpius that this was the same corner of the room where he'd met Riley all those months ago. He was thankful that it wasn't currently filled with smoke or the pounding bass of the music that was typical for most Slytherin parties. But the best part was that it was Rose sitting with him instead of Riley.

He watched her for a few moments as she started picking through the food on her plate. It was mostly filled with fruits, since Rose didn't have much of a sweet tooth. She gave him a timid smile when she noticed him watching her.

"Something's bothering you," said Scorpius, and Rose took a deep breath, popping a strawberry into her mouth.

"You keep doing that."

"What?"

"Stating random truths," she explained. "You've been scarily perceptive lately."

Even though she still seemed unsettled, she was smiling at him.

"Maybe it's just that I know you extremely well," he said with a grin. She rolled her eyes, but looked pleased by the idea. This attitude didn't stay long, and she seemed uncertain again a few moments later.

"I'm just wondering if me coming was a good idea," said Rose, avoiding his gaze.

"Rose, I want you here," said Scorpius with conviction, and she looked up at him with hopeful eyes. He wanted to do something to show her he meant it, maybe take her hand or put his arm around her, but he didn't want a moment like that to happen in front of a crowd of people. Al and Erin could show as much public affection as they wanted, but that wasn't him, and he was pretty certain it wasn't Rose either. He settled for scooting slightly closer to her.

"You matter more than anything that idiot or any other idiot could ever say about me. Or do to me, for that matter."

She seemed reassured by this and offered him her plate. Knowing she liked the strawberries and raspberries the best, he went for one of the blueberries.

"So you figured out what was bothering Corbin?" she asked, and he was thankful to move away from any deep or meaningful conversation she could have taken the opportunity to force.

"He was just beating himself up for everything that happened last term," Scorpius explained, realizing this wasn't exactly a lighthearted topic either. "Apparently, he's convinced himself that things wouldn't have played out the way they did if he'd actually listened to me when we caught him trying to sneak out last year."

"But, that's ridiculous."

Scorpius nodded, grabbing one of the few biscuits that were on her plate. "I told him as much and explained that seeing as _you_ couldn't even talk sense into me, there's no way I would have listened to him even if he'd tried to say something."

She didn't say anything, choosing to finish off her food instead.

"Have you ever thought about where we'd be right now?" she eventually asked, setting her plate down on the ledge next to her and turning to look at him. "If Devon hadn't started acting like an arse and I hadn't been so quick to judge and you hadn't been so hard on yourself for everything?"

Her brown eyes were boring into his with a curious and open expression, and he tried to stay steady as he held her gaze. Scorpius liked to think he knew exactly where they would have been, and it killed him to think about how much time they'd squandered.

Before everything had completely gone to shit, he'd actually thought they'd make a go of things, especially after they'd both been named Heads. That only gave them even more opportunities to pursue something outside of their friendship. But then they'd argued at his house, and then Shepard had started acting out, and then Rose had been quick to judge him spending time with his housemates, and then he'd really blown it at the end of term. Sure they'd made up at various points during those times, and especially over Christmas, but that wasn't the atmosphere he wanted when he inevitably told Rose how he felt about her. And sadly, this wasn't either.

"I think about that all the time," he managed to say. Rose's eyes widened slightly, most likely at the intensity of his gaze. He knew he wasn't going to fully explore this right now, but he wanted her to know it wasn't ever far from his mind.

"I plan on making it up to you," he said, quiet enough so that no one else nearby would be able to hear.

"You don't have to do that."

"But I want to."

She just studied him for a moment before asking if he wanted a drink. He nodded and watched her walk away. In that moment, watching her exchange pleasantries with Johnny Slater, most likely congratulating the Keeper on their win, he knew exactly what he wanted. But even though he'd come to realize that she wanted it too, he remained uncertain that she actually had faith in him. It was the one thing he'd finally realized was missing. He knew she cared for him, he knew she'd always be there for him, and he knew she'd do anything for him. But did she have faith in who he was as a person? He'd given her reason to doubt over the past few months, and he'd seen her do so. Trust was key, and it was possible he still had to earn hers back.

Scorpius had found a newness in himself after everything that had happened last term. There was a peace and a calmness that came with accepting every part of who he was. He was content. But that didn't mean there weren't things he wanted. He wanted to share all of himself with Rose. He was proud of who he was, and humbled by the road he took to get there. He wanted her to be proud of him too. Scorpius had learned the hard way that he had nothing to prove to anyone, but if Rose needed to be reassured that he was worth whatever risk came with giving him a chance, that was something he was more than willing to fight for.

* * *

 **A/N: We have reached a turning point! I will say that this is still a slow burn as it has always been a slow burn, but do not lose patience! You will get to see our boy take some definitive action very soon. I might even update a few times this week cause I'm so excited to get there.**

 **Also, I have a one shot written of the incident Rose remembers of visiting Ron in St. Mungo's after he'd been badly injured. It's from Hermione's POV and since it stands rather independent, I won't be posting it with all the snapshots for this story, so look out for that! I might even get it up tonight :)**


	39. Was a time when I wasn't sure

March rolled in with a persistent chill in the air. Rose was finding it increasingly difficult to juggle all of her homework, along with the added presence of studying for N.E.W.T.s and her Ancient Runes O.W.L. On top of all that, she'd finally had a meeting with Professor Mac to discuss what type of connections she could make in the professional world. He happened to have friends at a few of the places where she'd inquired about positions, so he'd sent off owls in an effort to put in a good word, and now she just had to wait.

Most of them she might not really hear from until closer to the end of term, maybe not even before her N.E.W.T.s. But she'd done what she could for now. Patience had never been her best virtue.

Erin had heard from Scorpius' father that he'd been in contact with some connections at St. Mungo's. They would be able to do some liaison work with the hospital for testing and regulatory purposes in their new venture.

"It's really exciting," Erin told Rose through a mouthful of toast. "It makes it so much more official. We'll still do a lot of work at the Manor, but all of the big testing phases will be officially overseen. It's not going to be just testing and experimenting in dodgy makeshift potion labs."

"When does all that start?" Lily asked as she sliced up an apple, dividing it between herself and Caleb. They were the only four of their friends and family who'd shown up for breakfast so far, and the new couple was enjoying flaunting their relationship without many prying eyes. Lily had cast a quick gaze around the room when she'd shown up, then plopped down rather close to Caleb, discreetly kissing his cheek.

"I don't think he'll have everything fully ready right away, so I should have a few free weeks, which will be nice because Al won't start training until August."

"Mum sent me more flat listings," said Rose, and she handed Erin a piece of newspaper that had fallen out of the letter she'd just received from her mother.

"This doesn't look bad," said Erin, indicating one of the listings with her fork. "It's in London, just outside Diagon, but wizard friendly. I wouldn't mind that."

Rose nodded, reading through her mother's letter.

"Uncle Harry finally let slip that Scorpius applied to the Academy," she said.

"What did she say about it?" Lily asked.

"Not much," said Rose, quickly reading through the rest of the letter. "Just mentioned that she'd heard and that she knows he'll be fantastic."

Her brow furrowed as she reached the end of the letter.

" _The Easter plans are fine with us?"_ she quoted, showing the letter to Erin before looking questioningly at Lily and Caleb. "Do you know what she's talking about?"

They shook their heads.

"What's this part about celebrating your cousin's good news?"

Erin indicated the line after the one Rose had read aloud, but Rose's attention was captured by Al and Scorpius walking towards them across the Great Hall from the direction of the Slytherin table.

"When did you get here?" Erin asked, having noticed them as well. Rose hadn't seen them come in either.

"Five minutes ago?" Al said with a shrug. "Here, it's from James."

He had a letter in his hand which he handed to Lily, who had tensed up when she'd heard her brother's voice coming from behind her. Caleb was trying to inch himself slightly away from Lily, and he actually succeeded in going unnoticed as Scorpius sat beside Lily, and Al moved to walk around to the other side of the table.

Forgetting her fear of being caught by her brother, Lily let out a shriek as she read the letter, her eyes flying up to Al as he sat down next to Erin, kissing her cheek in greeting.

"They're engaged?!" Lily squealed, and Caleb was too curious not to move close to her once again and peer at the letter she was clutching tightly in her hand.

Al flinched at his sister's shrill tone.

"That's what it says, right?" said Al in an annoyed tone, but Lily's eyes were back on the letter.

"James proposed already?" Rose asked, but Lily wasn't done blurting out random bits of information.

"They're letting us use the cabins?!"

"Would you calm down?" Al hissed. "There's only room for so many people so I'd rather you didn't shout about it."

"Can you explain, please?" Erin asked him, growing annoyed at the sibling's cryptic conversation.

"Lorcan proposed!" Lily explained as Caleb slipped the letter from her hands to scan through it himself.

"To Rox?" Rose found herself asking, and they all stared at her with similar looks of incredulity.

"Right, stupid question. What's the part about the cabins?"

"George and Angelina's," Al explained, helping himself to some bacon and eggs. "They said we can use their cabins over part of the Easter holidays. Sort of like an engagement gift or celebration. Whatever you want to call it."

Rose grinned in delight. They'd gone on many family trips to stay in the cabins when Rose was younger, but the family had grown to the point where it wasn't plausible for all of them to be able to go anymore, so the tradition had died out a bit. George and Angelina had bought the first one right before Fred and Roxy were born, so everyone had been taking trips there for most of their lives. The second one had been purchased a few years later, and they were only separated by a half mile walk.

It wasn't the only property George owned either. He'd taken a rather keen interest in real estate once the business had really started to grow. Didn't feel right, he'd said, to have all the gold just sitting in Gringotts, and decided that investing in things the whole family could enjoy felt right. They had a beach house in France as well.

"James says they each sleep eight," said Lily, taking the letter back from Caleb. "So that's sixteen?"

Al nodded. "I'm assuming it's Lor, Rox, Ly, Fred, James, and Violet, and probably Dom, maybe Eva. Depends on her schedule?"

He looked at Caleb, who shrugged.

"She'll probably have training, but the cabins are right near Kenmare, yeah? She might swing by if she can."

Caleb's sister Eva was playing Quidditch for the Kenmare Kestrels and was training in Ireland with their reserve team. The cabins had beautiful views of the Kenmare bay. It was the perfect location for Eva to be able to join them when she could.

"So who else?" Lily asked. "Are we trying to keep it to family?"

She looked nervous as she asked the question, but perhaps Rose could only see that because she knew exactly what Lily was thinking. She actually played it rather cool, but it was obvious to Rose that Lily was asking because she wanted Caleb to receive an invitation.

"No," said Al. "I'm willing to bet Teddy and Vic won't come, so that leaves us with eleven cousins plus Lor, Ly, and Violet, leaving two spots. So Scorp and Erin can come too."

Lily's jaw dropped in outrage.

"Who says you're the one who gets to bring their best friend _and_ their girlfriend?"

"Would it make you feel better if Erin came as Rose's best friend?"

"No!"

She glared at her brother before tossing James' letter across the table at him.

"Maybe I want to invite Charlotte, or Louis wants to bring Caleb?"

Her cheeks had turned slightly pink, but it could easily pass for indignation. Al raised his hands in defeat.

"Fine, we can discuss it. Besides, all the cousins might not want to go."

"Go where?" Louis asked, sliding into the seat beside Caleb, Hugo and Bobby right behind him.

"Lorcan proposed to Roxanne and we're all invited for a cousin getaway to the cabins over Easter," Al explained.

"Wicked!" said Hugo, helping himself to a stack of toast.

"Brilliant, but I can't go," said Louis. "We're visiting Gabrielle and Mum made me promise not to ditch this time."

Louis gave a grumble as he dug into a bowl of porridge. His aunt was nice enough, but her children were all rather stuck up and younger than Louis. He'd never enjoyed visiting with them. Lily slumped in her seat at this news, her hopes of trying to get Caleb to come dashed.

"See?" Al said, ignoring Louis and Lily's despondent attitudes. "Now you can bring a friend too."

"Don't I get to?" said Hugo.

"I'd rather not spend a week with my sister and her boyfriend," said Bobby, "but thanks anyway."

"I really don't have to go," Scorpius spoke up, and Al looked at him sharply.

"I told you, you're coming. It's not even a conversation. You're one of the more obvious choices."

It was a testament to the truth of Al's words that no one protested. Scorpius looked positively chuffed.

"I think that's just about settled then?" Al asked the table at large.

"Not so fast," said Rose. "You haven't checked with Molly or Lucy. What if they want to bring a friend? Or can't come?"

"Actually, Molly said something about their family using the beach house over break, so I doubt they can come either," said Louis.

"You know what, this is too confusing. Rose?" said Al, leaning around Erin to speak to his cousin. "Make a list, yeah? And write back to James. He wants to know who's coming and he said we have nine slots. So I'm guessing Eva won't be staying even if she does come around."

"If she has training, doesn't James?" Erin asked.

"Starting players get vacation weeks. It's partially so reserves can sub in and gain experience," Al explained before turning back to his cousin. "Can you handle it?"

Rose nodded, and Lily caught her eye, staring pointedly at her. Rose gave a subtle jerk of her head in recognition, and everyone began heading to their first class of the day ten minutes later. Rose dawdled, messing with her bag in an effort to look like she wasn't just sitting there and waiting for everyone else to leave. Al and Erin left the Great Hall hand in hand without a backwards glance at her, and Louis, Hugo, Bobby, and Caleb left as well. Lily had stood too, but didn't follow after the boys. The only other person who had waited behind was Scorpius, who was watching Rose curiously as she adjusted the strap on her bag.

"I'll catch up," she told him with a small smile, and he looked curiously between Lily and Rose before nodding and heading out of the Great Hall. Once they'd reached the entrance hall, Lily pulled Rose aside.

"Can you figure out a way to make sure he can come?"

"Lily, I'm not sure I can unless someone claims him as their guest. You're friends, right? Surely you could-"

"My brothers would never buy it," Lily whispered furiously. "Come on, Rose. Can't you talk Hugo into asking him to come?"

"Can't you?"

"He'll see through me too!"

"Lily, this is ridiculous!" said Rose, trying to keep her voice down as students continued to make their way out of the Great Hall. "Can't you just tell Hugo? He's your best friend."

"I'm not ready."

"You said by the Easter holidays."

Lily fell silent at Rose's rather valid argument before leaning back against the wall with a sigh.

"Lily, if you want this to work out, you're going to have to start telling people eventually, and Hugo is the best place to start. He might even cover for you if he decides to ask Caleb to come."

Lily looked up at Rose with hope filled eyes.

"You think so?"

It took a great deal of effort for Rose not to roll her eyes as she grabbed Lily's arm and pulled her off the wall, linking her arm through hers as they made their way down the corridor.

"I bet he'll do just about anything for you."

Lily smiled at Rose and thanked her, saying she'd think about it before heading off to class.

Rose made her way through the rest of the day on autopilot. They were finishing up a section on stealth in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Al had been the first to master all of the spells that provided cover and camouflage, with Scorpius not far behind. She and Scorpius then went to Arithmancy, which they were both losing interest in, due to neither of them really having a need for it outside of school. They still loved it though, especially since it was how they'd become friends in the first place.

Lunch had been a hectic affair, with Rose putting the finishing touches on her Potions essay as Erin rattled off any last minute information that would be helpful on the topic of Veritaserum. She ended the day in History of Magic, which was covering the Battle of Hogwarts, a topic she knew well and didn't much care to relive. Al had managed to convince her to sit in the back, and they'd actually left class early when Rose had been in danger of nodding off.

They were heading back to the Head's common room when Al asked about her plans for after Hogwarts. Rose tried very hard not to be aggravated by her cousin's question, but it was one he'd been asking almost weekly, practically since the start of term.

"Is there anyone else you could connect with?" he asked after she'd explained that she still hadn't heard anything back from the places she'd reached out to.

"I don't know, Al," she said with a sigh as they turned to head up to the seventh floor.

"Is something wrong?"

He looked concerned as they reached the portrait of Margaret that guarded her common room, and Rose waited until they were inside before speaking up.

"You just keep asking and it's more frustrating for me that I don't have an answer yet than it is for you. And you asking just reminds me that I don't have any answers yet."

His eyes widened a bit at her harsh tone.

"Alright, I'm sorry. I just care, that's all."

"I know you do," said Rose, her tone softening as she sat on the couch. "But it's difficult to be reminded that I still have no clue what I'm doing, especially when you and Scorp and Erin have everything all planned out already."

Al sighed and moved to sit in the armchair closest to her. He didn't say anything, just gave her a caring look, prepared to listen.

"I'm so happy for the three of you, honestly," Rose assured him. "But I want that for myself as well. You've all not only realized what you want to do, but you've found a way to do it. I only have half of that. I've even sent in my resume to Flourish and Blots as well as a few Muggle bookstores right near Diagon Alley, and I haven't heard from them either!"

She slouched back on the couch with a groan, covering her face with her arm.

"I just want to fast forward these next few months," she mumbled. "Then I'd already know my future is empty, rather than having to sit here worrying about it."

"Rose, your future won't be empty," Al said with an incredulous laugh, and Rose lifted her arm to scowl at him.

"Come on," he continued, reaching out to shove her knee. "You're brilliant, and it's not like everyone figures out what they want to do right away. You just happen to be friends with three exceptions."

"But I _do_ know what I want to do," she groaned. "It's the actually having the opportunity to do it that's the problem."

He gave her a sad smile, this time placing a comforting hand on her knee.

"Have some faith, Rosie. You may not have the job you want when you leave here. Hell, you may not even have a job at all…"

She frowned at him, but Al pressed on, gripping her knee affectionately.

"But you can be damn sure that you'll have everything else you need. You'll have your family, you'll have me, you'll have Erin. And do you even need to question whether or not you'll have Scor?"

Rose's eyes snapped to his, and the open expression he wore told her he understood all of her fears, without her actually having to articulate them. At least partially.

"I know," she said in a soft voice, reaching out to squeeze the hand that was still resting on her knee. "I'm trying to remember that."

Al gave her hand a squeeze before releasing it and sitting back in his chair.

"It's definitely going to be different, though," Al commented, his face contemplative. "I didn't expect…"

He had a far off look in his eyes, and Rose had to nudge him with her foot to get his attention. He gave her a shy smile.

"Didn't expect what?"

He shrugged, his cheeks going slightly pink.

"Erin."

Rose gave him a teasing grin. "It's sort of refreshing to see you like this."

"Like what?"

"Smitten."

Al rolled his eyes, but he couldn't wipe the grin off his face. They hadn't talked about his new relationship, and Rose hadn't really sought the conversation out. Part of her had been dying to ask him about it at the beginning, but school and everything else distracted her, and now her cousin had officially been dating her best friend for a month and it already felt normal. Although, Rose had to admit that part of that probably had to do with how they'd carried on in the months leading up to their relationship.

"I didn't expect it, you know?" Al said. "We've always had a bit of a turbulent friendship, and we still have our moments, but I never thought she'd feel the same way I do. I was a right pain in the arse on many occasions."

Rose chuckled, knowing full well he had been. He still could be, but she'd always seen Al for who he was; someone with a huge heart who was never sure how to show it.

"I guess I sort of hoped that, maybe, eventually yeah, we'd make a go of it. I just thought it would be later, you know? Once we'd been out of school for a bit and I was established as an Auror. That way she'd fully know what she was getting herself into."

Rose looked at her cousin quizzically.

"How do you mean?"

He gave a slight shrug and sat forward, his hands clasped in front of him. "I've always known that life as an Auror won't be easy. I've seen my parents do it, I've seen your parents do it. It's not something I'd expect someone to sign up for unless they knew what they had to deal with. All the late nights and random calls to the field, sometimes being gone for days at a time with no communication. Not to mention the potential for injuries or worse. It's nothing like we face at school, so how can you know you'll be able to handle it unless you've had to face it?"

Rose was shocked. Al had really thought through all that?

"Would you have said something to her sooner?" Rose asked. "Asked her out before if that wasn't a factor?"

Al shook his head. "Nah, I don't think so. We grew up together, you know? I wasn't about to ruin that just any old day. Don't know where we'd be if Erin hadn't made the first move."

"But you've fancied her for awhile?"

He gave a slow nod, his eyes focused on his hands as the hint of a smile cracked his lips. Rose was finding it very hard not to grin.

"You do know I don't need to take Herbology, right?"

Rose's draw dropped in shock before she let out a laugh.

"You're kidding?"

He shook his head, not even ashamed of himself. "Don't tell her. She'll be insufferable about it."

Rose just laughed, shaking her head in amusement.

"And we've talked about all that other stuff," he clarified. "About my plans and her plans. It might be a little early to really discuss the future, but it'll be reality soon enough. We sort of discussed it about… a week ago? It was after Scor's birthday dinner and I doubt it'll be the last conversation we have like that. It wasn't easy, and it definitely won't always be, but I have a feeling it'll all be worth it."

Al's eyes shone brightly as his lips fully formed into a smile, his gaze far off as he looked toward the mountains just visible out the windows. Rose felt her breath catch in her throat. In that moment, taking in her cousin's expression, she wondered why she'd ever doubted how he felt about Erin.

"Do you love her?"

She knew it was a bit of an impertinent question but it seemed like a rather obvious one to ask. And as Al's eyes snapped to her and his cheeks turned pink, she had a pretty good idea of what the answer to her question was.

He cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair, obviously uncomfortable.

"I'd really rather you not be the first person I tell that to."

Her brow rose, impressed by his answer.

"Fair enough."

He shot her a grin. "Backing down so soon? Scared I'll turn the question on you?"

Rose's jaw dropped in shock as her cousin grinned cheekily at her.

"What are you even talking about?"

"Please," he said with a bored tone, leaning back in his chair and giving her a pointed look. "You think I don't know?"

Rose decided to make the childish choice to ignore him, and gave a huff before pulling her books out of her bag. She did her best to ignore her cousin as he sat there silently watching her. Rose had almost managed to do so completely when he finally spoke up.

"So you can talk to me about my relationship with your best friend, but I can't talk to you about your relationship with mine?"

Al's annoyed tone had her glancing up at him. His arms were crossed over his chest and he was watching her expectantly. With a heavy sigh, Rose closed the book she'd been attempting to immerse herself in.

"Al, you and Erin are dating. You're something we can actually talk about. Scorp and I…"

He just watched her patiently as she tried to come up with something to say that gave weight to their relationship, but also didn't overstate it.

"I think it's obvious we care a lot about each other. Anything beyond that, we'll have to wait and see. And that's all I'm going to say."

Rose turned back to her books, hoping her cousin would take the hint, and he did, pulling out his own textbook. But a few minutes later, she felt his eyes on her again, and she risked a glance up at him.

"Be patient with him, Rosie. He's got more reasons to be hesitant than I did."

Al went back to his book, but Rose felt frozen in shock. She was unable to fully process what Al had said before the portrait swung open and Erin and Scorpius walked in.

"There you are," Erin said in exasperation. "Weren't you supposed to meet us in the joint common room?"

"I got Rose to skive off the end of History of Magic and she didn't feel like getting caught in her misdeeds," said Al. He gave Rose a teasing grin as their friends joined them by the fire. They watched in amusement as Scorpius collapsed onto the floor in front of it. Erin laughed at him as she sat on the arm of Al's chair and dropped her bag to the floor.

"He's been spending our free period trying to write an essay on the history of House Elf oppression for Binns," Erin explained. Rose cringed, fully understanding his struggle. There wasn't much information on the history of the topic, since wizards tended to gloss over the touchy subjects in history. The topic hadn't even been a subject of study until after the war.

"You can thank my mother for that," Rose said in pity. Scorpius gave a groan and rolled over onto his back, his hand going to rub his eyes.

"This better be worth it."

"It will be," Al assured him, and Scorpius gave a grunt that might have been in appreciation. Erin started talking to Al, but Rose tuned out their conversation, her mind going back to the last thing Al had said before they'd been interrupted.

What reason did Scorpius have to be hesitant? Sure they'd had their setbacks, but had she not been obvious enough about how she felt yet? Rose was certain she'd done just about everything she could short of straight up telling him, or doing something really drastic, like flinging herself at him the way Erin had at Al. That seemed out of the question. It wasn't like she thought he wouldn't reciprocate, it was more that she didn't want to force him into taking a step he wasn't ready to. Because what if he didn't stick around? Rose actually felt fairly certain he would, but there was this lingering sense of fear that he'd once again choose someone other than her.

She didn't know if she could trust that he wanted to be with her until he actually did something about it, and he hadn't yet. He'd shut down any conversation they could of had on Halloween, and he hadn't taken any of the other opportunities he'd been given since they came back after Christmas. And there had definitely been some.

They'd been spending more time together than they ever had before. He was studying History of Magic alongside her, as well as doing catch up work on the topic as well. And then there was all their other N.E.W.T.s to revise for. The moments they didn't spend together were few.

Another change was the amount of time they spent alone, giving him even more opportunities to say or do something. Just last week they'd been working in their common room, just the two of them, sitting on the floor by the fire. To be fair, they'd been studying some rather gruesome parts of the history of the Goblin rebellions, so not the most romantic setting, but there had still been other times.

He'd even hinted at it during the victory party in the Slytherin common room! So talking herself out of him actually having feelings for her seemed pointless now. Al had basically confirmed it for her. But what was holding him back?

"You alright?"

Rose jumped in surprise, realizing she'd been staring at Scorpius the whole time. She glanced at Al and Erin to see he'd pulled her sideways onto his lap and she was now explaining something in the Herbology book he'd been reading. The sight made Rose grin as she remembered Al's earlier confession. And then everything else he'd said about his relationship with Erin came rushing to the front of her mind.

Al had been hesitant because they were friends, and the same was true for her and Scorpius. Al didn't want to rush into anything because of his plans to become an Auror and all that entailed.

Could Scorpius be hesitating because of that too? She hadn't exactly been quiet about how nervous it made her just seeing Al pursue that path, and she'd even _told_ Scorpius how much it scared her. Of course he was going to wonder if she could handle it. And with everything else they'd been through, what Al said made sense. He had plenty of valid reasons to hesitate.

"Nothing," she finally said, turning to Scorpius with a small smile. "Just trying to figure out this whole list of people for the holiday."

She pulled out a quill and a piece of parchment and began writing down names, thankful to have something else to focus on for the time being.

"So there's the four of us, right?" asked Rose, and Erin and Al pulled themselves out of their conversation enough to nod.

"So that leaves five," she mumbled to herself. "And no Lucy, Molly, or Louis…so Lily and Hugo plus three others? I know Lily mentioned Charlotte so we can tentatively put her down. I'm not sure we even need all that space."

"Actually…" Scorpius said, propping himself up with his hands and looking at them all uncertainly. "I know I'm not family so I technically can't invite anyone, but…"

Rose braced herself for him to say he wanted to invite Riley, but breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't.

"Would it be alright if Corbin came?"

Al's eyebrows shot up in surprise, but Rose assumed he knew just as well as she did that Scorpius had been trying to spend more time with his cousin, but this was his first attempt to include him in this way.

"It could be good for him to get away," Scorpius said with a shrug, "and I think it's about time my family got to know the people who are important to me. I spent enough time last term not realizing who mattered most. Now that I've figured all that out, it makes sense for me to want my family to get to know you all."

His words affected Rose more than she could have predicted. Scorpius had spent so much time trying to find a way to fit in with his house that she'd wondered in the back of her mind if he still felt like something was missing. She now strongly believed that wasn't the case. It was very obvious how much it would mean to him if Corbin were to be included and spend time with her family. Because they mattered most to him. And he had no plans of that changing. Rose was pleasantly surprised to find that the fears she'd contemplated only moments ago about whether or not he'd be sticking around, or the likelihood that he would choose someone over her, were now almost nonexistent.

"I don't have a problem with that," Al assured him, "if we have the space."

Scorpius let out a sigh of relief that he hadn't been completely shot down. "Thanks, mate. And if someone else pops up, just let me know. I'll tell him to keep his schedule clear but won't tell him what for just yet."

Al nodded before going back to the book he and Erin had been looking at, and Rose did her best to ignore her epiphany and focus back on her list, realizing that until Lily figured out her issues, there wasn't much else she could do.

"Go ahead and put Caleb down."

Rose tried very hard not to look at Al in shock. He'd said it so casually, still with his gaze on the book in his lap. Erin had been running her hand through his hair and she stopped suddenly, looking down at him curiously. It wasn't that Al wasn't friends with Caleb Wood, but with Louis, Molly, and Jill not going, it didn't make as much sense. Especially since Hugo hadn't even spoken up on his behalf at breakfast.

Rose tried very hard to act nonchalant as she asked, "Why?"

"Because he was there when we read the letter and it would be sort of rude not to now."

Rose nodded, relief sweeping through her as she jotted down Caleb's name.

"Plus I know Lily's probably got something up her sleeve to try and get him there and I'd rather not deal with any bull shit she tries to spin."

Rose really did look up at Al in surprise this time, and Erin had gone completely still from her position in his lap, aside from the fact that she was now gripping his hair tightly.

"Ow," Al said, looking pointedly up at her. She gave him a guilty grin before releasing his hair and smoothing it down with her hand.

"What's this about Lily and Caleb?" Scorpius asked.

"They're together," Al said matter of factly, tossing his book aside before sliding the hand that wasn't around Erin's waist into her free one. "Or something like that."

"How the hell do you know that?" Rose asked, completely taken aback by this turn of events.

"They're not exactly subtle," he said with a roll of his eyes. "If I hadn't known before today, I would've figured out something was up at breakfast. You were _both_ acting suspicious."

"I can't believe you're that perceptive," Erin said, and Al looked up at her with a crooked smile.

"You weren't exactly subtle either. You've been dropping hints like mad about what a nice bloke he is. I figured either _you_ were interested in him, or you were going out of your way for someone who was. Lily makes the most sense."

Erin blushed a bit. "Maybe I _am_ interested in him. Ever truly consider that?"

Al grinned at her. "Nope."

With a huff, Erin removed her hand from his hair and crossed her arms, dropping his hand from her other one in the process as well. Al just chuckled and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer.

"Wait," Scorpius said. "It's the map. That's how you did it."

Al looked at Scorpius with wide eyes for a moment before they narrowed. Rose looked between them in confusion before it dawned on her.

"What? You have the map?" she asked Al, who scowled at Scorpius before turning to his cousin.

"I might."

"I thought James wouldn't let you have it?" Erin asked, her defensive posture slackening with her intrigue.

"I nicked it over Christmas. He's been packing since he's finally getting his own place and I was helping. Found it in a box of his old Hogwarts stuff."

It was well known that Teddy had taken the map from Harry's study when he was in his third year, and that he had then passed it along to James. It was also known that Harry was well aware of this, and so had given Al the invisibility cloak a few years ago. Lily was rather put out by both of these things. Rose was pretty certain none of the Potter men were keen to give Lily the ability to sneak around with a boy.

"I didn't see them on the map until a few weeks ago," he clarified. "And by that point I'd already realized something was going on. I know my sister well enough to know when she's keeping something from me."

"They've been using the Room of Requirement," Rose said. "That's why you hadn't seen them."

Al nodded in understanding.

"You don't seem as put out by this as I would have thought," commented Erin, and Al gave a shrug.

"I like Caleb. He's a good bloke. I'll have a little talk with him when the time is right, but she seems really happy, right?"

They all nodded, and it seemed even Scorpius had noticed the change in Lily.

"Just make sure they don't get up to anything too irresponsible," he said to Rose.

"Are you going to tell her you know?" asked Scorpius.

"Nah, she's got her reasons for not saying anything yet. She'll tell me when she's ready."

"Wow," said Erin. "I didn't think you'd handle it this well to be honest."

He grinned up at her. "Impressed?"

Erin merely blushed and slid further down into his lap so she could rest her head on his chest and avoid his knowing smirk.

"Well I might have convinced her to tell Hugo," said Rose," but otherwise, I think we're the only ones who know."

"And we'll keep it that way," said Al. "Last thing I want is an angry Lily Potter coming after me."

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry this was a few days late. Especially after all that talk about multiple chapters last week. I will make it up to you! More chapters this week as well as a nice Malcolm/Alice snapshot of her visit to his office :)**

 **I struggled a bit with some of Rose's internal monologue on this one, but I think I'm good with how it turned out. Next chapter is the first of Easter break and it begins a few of my favorite chapters. And you won't even have to wait a week!**


	40. There's a place up ahead and I'm going

The weeks dragged on and the work piled up but finally, it was time for the Easter holiday. Scorpius felt like he'd never looked forward to a holiday more in his life. It was partially because of their plans to get away - for the first time without parental supervision - but mostly just because of the sheer amount of work that had been piled on them.

He'd felt like he was keeping up with it all until the last week before break, so it couldn't have come at a better time. All the seventh years had to embrace the fact that they'd have to take their books along with them in order to get at least some work done, but Rose had seen to it that they were as on schedule as possible, and maybe even a little bit ahead, before it was time to head home.

They'd all be going back to their respective families for a few days, and then arriving at the cabins on Wednesday. Other than that, they had no real plans, and Scorpius found himself very okay with that. Rose was having a harder time dealing with the lack of structure, but had even commented that it would be nice to relax and not always have somewhere to be.

Scorpius had to acknowledge that things between himself and Rose hadn't been quite this good in awhile. Ever since their conversation at the party in the Slytherin common room, it felt different. She'd been more bold in some of the comments she'd made, and he hadn't shied away from sitting close to her when they studied together, which was happening in one-on-one situations more and more often. He still felt nervous about making any type of significant move, because there really would be no going back after that. And he didn't want to screw this up like he'd done with so many other things lately.

He felt lucky, actually, that things had managed to turn out this well so far, despite everything else. That might have been one of the reasons he'd taken so long to act on his feelings for Rose; he didn't want to push his luck.

And there was always the nagging thought that just because he fancied her and she might fancy him, it didn't mean they'd actually make sense as a couple. It might not work out. Of course, he'd never know unless he tried, so he knew he would. He wanted to. And he could only wait for his so-called perfect timing for so long. He'd eventually realized that there was no such thing. It was just a question of when he could work up the courage and say to hell with his fears and actually act. And he was beginning to think he had his opening.

He went to the Potter's on Tuesday night so he could portkey with them the next morning. Scorpius arrived in Ireland with Al and Lily and Charlotte just after breakfast on Wednesday, appearing just down the trail from one of the cabins.

"Do we know who's staying where?" Scorpius asked, hauling his overnight bag as he followed the Potter's towards the house.

"I think we'll probably split up by age," said Lily, struggling under the weight of her own bag. "So James and all his friends in one plus a couple others. Everyone else in the other."

"More like every man for himself. You get your pick when you show up," said Al, taking pity on his sister and grabbing her bag as they went the last few yards towards the cabin as Scorpius grabbed Charlotte's.

The word cabin wasn't exactly the most appropriate way to describe the house they were staying in. It was two stories and the outside was a beautiful multicolored stone that looked like it had been very well taken care of. The front door opened into a spacious living room. It was the central part of the house and opened into the kitchen to the left, and a section of wall with a fireplace separated it from another sitting area filled with couches and chairs to the right. Doors leading onto the back patio were straight ahead, and the furniture was all dark brown and looked immensely comfortable. There was even a television in the corner of the room next to the doors that led to the back patio. The floors were hardwood, as well as the cabinets in the kitchen. One of the best parts was the windows that lined the walls, letting in natural light and a beautiful view of the water.

James and Violet were already there and seated at the kitchen table, looking like they'd just finished breakfast.

"How early did you get here?" Lily asked as they set down their bags.

"We stayed last night," James said nonchalantly, but Violet's face flushed pink as James began to clean up after their meal. Scorpius realized that Violet was in what could easily be described as sleepwear, and James didn't even have a shirt on.

"Really?" Lily asked mischievously. "It's _that_ kind of weekend?"

James rolled his eyes at his sister. "Like it would even matter to you."

A challenging look appeared on Lily's face and Scorpius thought she just might be reckless enough to tell her brother the truth about her relationship status just to prove a point, but Al smoothly diffused the situation.

"You're staying with Charlotte anyway," he said, moving into the kitchen and grabbing one of the remaining pieces of bacon off the table. Scorpius thought he was the only one who noticed Charlotte looking at Lily suspiciously when Lily almost seemed annoyed by who she was rooming with.

He wandered towards the back patio doors as the siblings began talking logistics. It was truly a beautiful view. The weather would be a bit chilly over the days they were there, but there was a fire pit that would help keep them warm if they wanted to take advantage of the patio, not to mention the handy use of magic.

Scorpius moved past the fire place towards the other sitting area, and knew this would probably be his favorite room. It was completely surrounded by windows that had an even better view of the water and surrounding hills. He noticed a dock that was connected to the house by a trail that ran down towards the water, and a boat that could maybe fit four people in it.

"We can pick a room here," Al hollered from the kitchen, and Scorpius made his way back towards the other occupants of the house as Al opened one of the doors off the kitchen that led to some stairs. He followed Al up and into a long hallway with six doorways.

"There's a linen closet, a bathroom, and four bedrooms," explained Al, making his way to the other end of the hall. "Two with queens and two with two twins. We'll bunk in one of those."

They reached the end of the hall and entered a room with sloped ceilings and two beds on either side of a circular window. It was clean and the decorations were minimal.

"Know when anyone else is getting here?" Scorpius asked as Al started moving things from his bag to one of the dresser drawers.

"Erin said she's coming with Rose and Hugo and Caleb before lunch, and they're bringing a lot of the food. I didn't bother to ask about anyone else but I'm assuming that's all you care about as well?"

Al smirked at him, and Scorpius made himself busy unloading his own things.

"We'll have to do some shuffling when Eva leaves and Corbin comes," said Scorpius. Eva had managed to get a few days off so she'd be staying that night and Thursday, making room for Corbin to come on Friday.

Scorpius' cousin had been reluctant to accept the offer, since he didn't really know any of Scorpius' friends, but he had eventually agreed when Scorpius convinced him that it might be nice to spend time with different people. Almost like a breath of fresh air. The only trouble was, they'd have to bunk one more girl and boy together. James and Violet would continue to share a room, and so would Lorcan and Roxanne once they showed up, but no other combinations would make much sense unless you started putting siblings together, which no one found to be a good idea.

"If we put him with me then you still have to go somewhere and I doubt Rose would be willing to room with Dom and let you stay with Erin."

Rose had rather comically put her foot down when Al somewhat jokingly suggested that particular sleeping arrangement the week before they left. Erin had rolled her eyes and told Rose to calm down, seeing as she had no intention of sharing a room with Al at present. Scorpius wasn't sure why Rose had been so adamant about it at first, but she'd explained to him later that it was more about enjoying the last few months of school with her best friend like they had for their entire time a Hogwarts, and that Al had butted in enough already.

"I'm really happy for them," she'd assured Scorpius. "I just want to savor these last few weeks and months before real life changes everything for good."

And real life was coming quickly. Rose had finally heard back from one of the smaller publishing houses she reached out to about an assistant position, and she was supposed to have had an interview the day before.

"We'll get it sorted," Al said in reference to the sleeping arrangements. "Maybe Dominique will want to bunk with Ly, although I haven't been able to tell what's going on there."

Scorpius had been filled in on the circumstances surrounding the shift in Ly and Dom's relationship, but no one had been able to say outright if they were actually together. Of course, the people he saw and talked to didn't see them that often, so this weekend would be the right circumstances to figure it out.

Scorpius really only cared because Rose was so curious about it, and it was rather funny to watch her observe others and try to put the pieces together. She'd done the same thing with Al and Erin.

No matter where they stood, it still didn't really solve their accommodation issues, since they wouldn't put Corbin with someone he didn't know. Especially someone like Fred, who would sooner prank him than shake his hand. But Al was right and they could think about that later.

The sound of people moving in the hall caught their attention, and Scorpius and Al looked out the door just in time to see Lily and Charlotte enter one of the other bedrooms. Al immediately rushed towards them.

"You two are going to have to go to the other house," he said with authority. Lily looked seriously annoyed already.

"James just said it was our choice where we stayed."

"But Violet will probably want Rox to stay here and that leaves only one more room for Erin and Rose."

Lily's hackles rose immediately.

"What happened to it being every man for himself?"

"It is," he said with a smirk. "I'm the man, and I say, find a different room."

Lily was scowling, and Charlotte looked like she very much wanted to do anything to end the argument.

"Don't you two want to be in the same house as Hugo and Caleb anyway?" Scorpius jumped in, and Lily's scowl softened a little.

"Maybe they'll get here and claim a room before Rose and Erin or Rox and Lorcan," she challenged. "And they're men so you can't pull the same line you did with me, even if it does make you a chauvinistic pig."

Charlotte stifled a giggle, and Scorpius found he had to keep from smiling too when Al scowled at his sister.

"Fine. But I'll be keeping an eye on you."

Panic flitted across Lily's face for a moment, but she was able to quirk her eyebrow at her brother before anyone could really notice.

"And I can keep an eye on you as well. I wouldn't put it past you to sneak your girlfriend in at night. Random bed checks sounds good, don't you think?"

Al rolled his eyes but let the conversation drop, not quite storming away as he made to go back downstairs. Scorpius followed, and heard Al groan in disappointment when Hugo and Caleb moved past them and up the stairs. Rose and Erin were standing by the front door and taking off their jackets.

"Disappointed to see me?" Erin said with a smirk, and Al managed to smile as he moved to greet her.

Rose was smiling contently as she took in her surroundings, obviously pleased to be back in a place she'd loved coming to as a child. He walked over to her, grabbing the baskets that looked like they contained food as she turned her smile towards him.

"Isn't it beautiful?" said Rose. "I can't believe we stopped coming here. It was my favorite place to go as a kid."

"I can see why," said Scorpius, and she followed him into the kitchen with the groceries. Violet was still sitting at the table reading a book, and the sound of running water from a room off the kitchen made him assume James was in a second bathroom. They began putting the food away in the fridge as Lily, Charlotte, Caleb, and Hugo traipsed down the stairs and into the living room.

"How was your interview?" asked Scorpius, and he was pleased to see her smile at the question, even if it was tentative.

"I think it went well. The woman who would be my supervisor seemed wonderful, but the person I'd be doing most of the work for was a little intimidating. He's been in the business a long time."

"Do you know when you'll hear anything?"

"They said within a few weeks, which is a little more vague than I'd like, but I also heard from a periodical on Monday that I inquired at a few weeks ago," she said in excitement.

"That's brilliant! Did you get an interview?"

"I'll have to arrange it with McGonagall, but hopefully, yes."

He grinned at Rose, excited that things were finally turning up for her. They were distracted when what sounded like an argument broke out in the living room.

"That's probably about room assignments," said Scorpius when Rose looked at him in concern.

"I'm guessing Lily is the one making a stink about it?" she asked.

"A little of Al as well. This whole thing started when he told Lily she had to go to the other house so you and Erin could stay here. I was quick to point out she'd want to be where Hugo and Caleb are anyway, but she argued they could stay here too and they basically dropped it, but I knew peace wouldn't last long."

Rose chuckled as they moved to stock the cabinets. "You would think she wouldn't want to be with her brothers."

James emerged from the bathroom just as the sound of Lily swearing at Al reached them. He let out a moan of frustration and looked at Violet for help.

"No way," she told him with a smirk. "I get a break from sibling squabbles this week. You'll have to handle this yourself."

He stuck his tongue out at her before moving into the living room, squeezing past Erin as she sought an escape in the kitchen.

"He's being ridiculous and I know it's only because of Caleb," Erin said as she moved to open the fridge. Scorpius' eyes snapped to Violet, and saw that she'd obviously heard what Erin had just said.

"What's this about Caleb?" Violet asked with a grin. Erin was bent over and searching through the drinks they'd just put away, and shot up rather comically to look wide eyed at Violet.

"Shit, I didn't know you were here."

Violet laughed as Rose shook her head at her best friend in disappointment.

"You have to tell me now," said Violet, leaning forward and towards them in anticipation.

"If we tell you, you'll tell James," said Rose. "Right?"

Violet sighed, thinking about it. "I suppose I'd feel bad for not telling him if it's important, but are you asking me not to?"

"If you didn't, that'd be great," said Erin. "Al's not supposed to know either. And I wasn't even the one to tell him."

Their conversation was immediately cut short when Hugo stuck his head in the kitchen, asking them to join the others in the living room.

Al, James, and Lily were all standing with their arms crossed. Al was glaring at his sister, and both Lily and James were glaring at him.

"Alright, seeing as the three of us probably shouldn't stay in the same house," said James, glancing between his two siblings. "I'll stay here with Violet since I'm already set up, and since you two obviously can't seem to get along right now, Al and Scorp will go to the other cabin. Hugo and Caleb and Rose and Erin can stay here."

Lily did her best not to grin triumphantly, and Al looked at James in outrage.

"You get to stay in the same bloody room with your girlfriend but I have to be half a mile away from mine?" snapped Al. "What gives you the right to make that call?"

"You two are dating?" Violet asked Erin quietly, and she nodded, too put out by the situation to smile.

"Well, seeing as you _are_ dating, and this is the first I'm hearing of it," said James with a smirk, "it makes me even more inclined to separate you. And I was basically put in charge this weekend so if you want to survive it you'll bloody well listen to me, alright? Otherwise I'll send you home and I've got no problem doing that."

Scorpius wondered if James really could send Al home, since their portkeys weren't set to activate again until Saturday. But then again, they had to have some way to leave in case of an emergency.

"Fine," said Al, still looking extremely put out before glancing at Lily. "But you should know that-"

"Why don't we get started on lunch, yeah?" Rose said loudly, causing a few people to jump in surprise. The tension began to leave the room as they all agreed and made their way into the kitchen, save for Scorpius, Rose, Erin, and Al. Rose gripped Al's arm tightly when he reached them.

"Do you have any idea how much she'd hate you if you spilled her secret out of spite?" she whispered furiously. "I don't think any of us are happy with the arrangement but you'd just make things worse if you did something like that. So cool off."

Al looked slightly ashamed and gave Rose a pleading look.

"Can you talk to James? You two could bunk up at the other house with us."

"Don't you want someone who's aware of Lily and Caleb to be keeping an eye on them?" asked Rose.

"I'd rather have my girlfriend in the next room, actually."

Erin's frown turned into a slight smirk at this, and Rose reluctantly agreed to talk to James before they headed into the kitchen.

By the time they were done with their meal, no one else had shown up yet, and they discovered why when their remaining vacation companions all arrived together around two o'clock.

"We're all set up in the other cabin," said Lorcan as they entered the house. "Our portkeys took us over there. So, who's taking the last room?"

"That'll be Al and Scorpius," said James with finality, giving Al a hard look that showed he'd take no argument. There went any plans of getting Rose and Erin to switch to the other house. Al let out a heavy sigh before heading upstairs to grab his things. Scorpius had packed his up right after lunch, but Al had refused until that point.

The first afternoon was spent in that cabin, a fire going and everyone catching up with the people they hadn't seen in awhile, and hearing the story of how Lorcan proposed.

"We should all go into town for dinner tomorrow night," Violet suggested, who was sitting on the floor in front of the chair James was in. "To celebrate the two of you."

There was general agreement to this suggestion, and Scorpius' ears perked up at the mention of town.

"Where is it?" he asked.

"About two miles from here, I think," said James. "There are some shops and pubs and restaurants, but not much else."

"It's lovely though," said Rose from her seat on the couch next to Scorpius. "I always liked going when I was younger."

"Anyone feel like walking down to the beach before it gets dark out?" Dom asked, standing from where she'd been sitting on the floor and stretching. "There's a small one not far from the pier down by the water and it's not quite dark yet."

"I'm up for it," said Lysander, pushing off from the wall he'd been leaning against. Scorpius felt Rose tense up from her seat beside him, watching the two closely.

"Freddie, you in?" asked Lysander, and Rose sagged back into the couch with a huff. Scorpius tried very hard not to chuckle.

The three of them plus Eva left to wander down to the shore, and Lily and Charlotte went to go get situated in their room.

"Alright, what's up with Ly and Dom?" Rose asked as Hugo and Caleb tried to figure out the television.

Lorcan shrugged from his place on the other couch with Roxanne.

"They're dating, and I use the term loosely, because I don't think they've actually been on a date."

"It's sort of bizarre really," said Roxanne. "They act pretty much the same as always, but you might catch them snogging every once in a while."

"Wherever have I seen that before," Scorpius said with a smirk at Al and Erin. They were lying on their stomachs on the rug in front of the fireplace and playing some kind of card game. Erin pulled her attention away from the game for a moment to shoot a look at Scorpius.

"From what I've heard about the two of you, this is different," said James. "I don't think they're hiding from their feelings. I think it's more being casual and taking it one day at a time."

"Who says that's not what we did?" asked Al, his eyes focused on the cards in front of him as he questioned his brother.

"Please," James said with a roll of his eyes, summoning a tin of biscuits from the kitchen. "I think I know you both well enough to have a good idea about how you handled things."

"How _did_ all this happen?" asked Roxanne curiously, and Hugo let out a groan.

"Can we not? They're ridiculously sappy."

"We are not," said Erin, looking over her shoulder and aiming a kick at Hugo, which connected with his hip.

"Come on, I want to know," said Roxanne.

"Fine," said Al with a sigh, but Scorpius could tell he was kind of enjoying this. "We got into this big row and ended up not talking for a few weeks back in the fall-"

"That's how long this has been going on?" asked Violet in surprise.

"Yep," said Erin. "He was being a git and I was being stubborn and then it all culminated in this huge row in the joint common room."

"In front of just about everyone, by the way," said Caleb with a smirk. He and Hugo had given up on the television and were now playing their own game of cards.

"And she kissed me and then slapped me," Al said with a smirk while Erin blushed. "We spent a few months just… dancing around everything after that-"

"With the occasional snog thrown in," Scorpius interjected, much to the amusement of everyone but Al.

"We weren't really on the same page till my birthday," said Erin.

" _That_ was fun to witness," said Hugo. "You lot remember Harrison Hughes?"

Two of the four older people in the room nodded.

"He was a prefect when we were Heads," said Roxanne.

"He asked her out at dinner," Hugo said, gesturing to Erin. "Al lost it."

"I didn't lose it," Al said with a roll of his eyes. "I just put my foot down."

"Erin was the scary one," said Caleb. "She didn't really appreciate him butting in and telling Harrison to get lost."

"Well seeing as I didn't think we were together, it wasn't exactly his place," said Erin defensively.

"You don't mind so much that I did it now, though," Al said with a grin. Erin smiled at him in return.

"No. Not _quite_ so much."

They looked at each other sappily until James chucked a biscuit at Al's head.

"Have you seen the way you look at Violet?" he shot at James, blushing before returning to his game. James just laughed and Scorpius suddenly noticed that Lorcan was looking at himself and Rose curiously. They were actually sitting rather close on the couch, especially considering how much space was available. Lorcan whispered a question to Roxanne while Hugo complained about how hungry he was, and Roxanne's eyes went to Rose and Scorpius. She looked at her fiancé and shrugged, and Scorpius knew she was about to ask a question that was sure to make the atmosphere very uncomfortable.

"Quit your griping," Rose told her brother as she stood from the couch. "I'll start on dinner."

She moved into the kitchen and Violet followed with an offer to help, leaving Scorpius to sigh in relief. Whatever question Roxanne was going to ask was forgetter when James started talking to her and Lorcan about plans for the next evening, and Hugo and Caleb went to get settled into their room.

As much fun as it was to hear his friends talk about their relationships - which it really wasn't all that often - he sort of wished he was able to give the answer he desperately wanted to be able to give if Roxanne had asked the question he knew had been on the tip of her tongue.

The plan he'd only slightly started forming right before break was becoming more solid. He felt like he had the perfect opportunity to take the next step, and even felt that staying in different houses would help things go rather unnoticed by the others. He knew he'd tell Al, and expected her to tell Erin, but he didn't want the pressure of everyone being aware. Actually, maybe he could just tell both of them now. He could use some advice and needed to get some information from Al first anyway.

His opportunity came when the couple finished their game and got up from the floor, announcing they were going to take a walk before dinner. Scorpius waited and didn't get up to follow until they'd been gone for almost half a minute. By the time he made it outside, he could barely spot them a good ways down the lane, holding hands as they strolled leisurely.

"Al, wait!" he hollered as he began to jog after them. They stopped and turned to watch him approach. Erin seemed curious but Al just looked annoyed.

"Mate, can it wait?"

"I want to take Rose into town tomorrow," he said when he reached them. Erin gasped and clapped her hands in delight.

"You're going to ask her out?"

"Sort of," said Scorpius. "I don't want to put that type of pressure on it, but I thought it would be nice to go spend time together somewhere other than the grounds or Hogsmeade. Just the two of us."

Al was now grinning, his arms folded across his chest as he studied his friend.

"And now you need some romantic advice, yeah? Need to know how to make your move?"

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "I more wanted information on the town so I could plan things."

Al now seemed annoyed again.

"Oh, well, can't we do that later? We don't have much daylight left."

"It's Rose, Al," Scorpius reminded him. "She'll want a plan."

"Well, tell her it's a surprise," said Erin, "and that you have a plan. You two can hash it out in your room tonight, okay?"

"Fine," Scorpius relented. "That's actually a good idea."

"Great, see you at dinner," said Erin, grinning widely at Scorpius before grabbing Al by the hand and dragging him down the lane once again. Resolve growing in him, Scorpius made his way back into the house.

He had to wait until after dinner to find an opportunity to talk to Rose. Scorpius and Al had stuck around until late in the evening, staying after everyone else had either left for the night or gone up to bed. When Erin was starting to fall asleep on Al's shoulder, he suggested it was about time they head back, and she sat up quickly, even offering to walk them.

"We'll be fine," Al assured her with a roll of his eyes as he and Scorpius put on their jackets. "You look like you're about to pass out."

She nodded sleepily, and Scorpius was thinking he'd just lost his chance for Rose to spend the day with him tomorrow when Erin dragged Al outside, asking Scorpius to wait while she gave her boyfriend a proper goodnight.

Rose rolled her eyes when the door shut behind them.

"It was almost better when she was shy about it."

"Was she ever?" asked Scorpius, and Rose chuckled.

"No, I suppose not."

She picked up a few dishes and snacks that had been left in the living room, taking them into the kitchen.

"So, this town," Scorpius began as he followed her. "You enjoy going there?"

"Oh, yes," Rose said with a nod. "I loved going when I was a kid. It sort of reminds me of the village near the Burrow, but you can still smell the freshness in the air from being so close to the water."

He moved to stand next to her and faced her as she washed the few remaining dishes in the sink. The ease with which his next words came out surprised him.

"Sounds nice. We should go."

She laughed. "We're all going tomorrow night."

"Well, maybe we should go earlier."

Rose looked at him curiously. "Why?"

Scorpius sighed, realizing he was going to have to spell this out a little more clearly and hoping he wouldn't run out of time before Al and Erin came back inside.

"I think it would be nice to go and spend some time in town together before meeting everyone else for dinner."

She'd stopped washing the dishes by now and was watching him closely, and he knew she was catching on.

"Maybe go to some shops, take a nice walk, grab a drink? Just the two of us?"

Her eyes widened and her mouth opened and closed a few times as she tried to formulate a response. Eventually, she cleared her throat and looked at him almost shyly.

"Sounds sort of like a date to me."

He grinned slightly, knowing his cheeks were slightly pink. "Sort of. Yeah. That alright?"

He felt some of his nerves leave him as she smiled, his heart beating faster as she nodded.

"Alright, yeah. Want me to make a plan since I know the town?"

"Don't worry," he assured her. "I've got it covered."

She looked pleasantly surprised by this.

"Really? You've put that much thought into this?"

He chuckled. "Actually, I'm doing it tonight. Al said he'd give me the lay of the land."

"Al knows?" she asked in surprise.

"So does Erin. I just wanted to talk to him but it's hard to get one without the other these days. They'll probably cover for us so it's not like everyone knows our business. I was thinking I'd come get you after lunch?"

She smiled, turning away from the sink so she faced him fully.

"That sounds great."

Anything else that could have been done or said was quickly off the table when the front door opened and Al and Erin walked back in, their faces flushed and their hair mussed due to their activities on the front porch. Rose smiled almost regretfully at Scorpius, and excitement filled him about the prospect of spending uninterrupted time with her the following day.

"I'll see you tomorrow," said Scorpius, and he simply smiled at her before walking back into the living room, saying goodnight to Erin as well before he and Al left.

"So?" asked Al as they made their way down the lane that connected the two houses, their wands lit to guide the way. "Do I need to give you pointers for tomorrow?"

Scorpius grinned, throwing his bag over his shoulder. "Maybe a few."

He could practically hear Al grinning as he responded. "As long as you don't ask me for any snogging tips. I'd rather not think about you kissing my cousin."

Scorpius chuckled. "Trust me, I'll never talk to you about that. And I'm not sure we're there yet, mate."

Al chuckled.

"Yeah, well, when you are, I don't want to see it."

As Al began to tell him about the different places in town he could take Rose, Scorpius couldn't help but think about the following day with excited anticipation, wondering exactly what it would bring, and thinking it just might be the start of something he'd been waiting for for a very long time.

* * *

 **A/N: It was so nice to write James and Violet again and you might see me hopping over to their story again sometime soon. I'm so excited about these next few chapters and I can't wait to get them posted. Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for your great reviews and keep them coming!**


	41. Come along, come along with me

The window in Rose and Erin's room provided a perfect view of the walkway up to the house. They'd ended up with a queen size bed, since Hugo and Caleb had flat out refused, but they didn't mind too much. They were used to it with the nights Erin would stay with Rose in her dorm.

Rose knew she probably looked ridiculous as she moved around the room, not really doing anything in particular, but stopping to look out the window every few minutes.

"You need to relax," Erin said from her position on the bed. She was lying on her stomach and flipping through a magazine as they waited for the boys. They'd come over for breakfast and Al had been able to relay the plan to Erin. Apparently, Scorpius didn't really want word getting out about their plans for the day, and measures had been taken to ensure that as much as possible. All four of them were set to go on a leisurely hike not far from the cabins, but Al and Erin were the only two actually planning on going. Rose and Scorpius would be breaking away and heading to the town. The boys had gone to their cabin to get ready, and were now due back any moment.

"I _am_ relaxed," Rose insisted. "I'm just trying not to overthink it and if I just sit around, that's what I'll do. I'm just trying to stay busy."

Erin smirked at her. "I have to say, I knew things between the two of you might change eventually, but I think I figured you'd be a lot more calm about it."

"I _am_ calm," said Rose, throwing Erin a look as she went to redo her plait, looking in the mirror that hung on the back of the door.

"That's the third time you've done your hair."

Rose ignored Erin, focusing instead on her long, bushy mane and trying not to second guess what she'd decided to wear. They had to make it look like they actually were going on a hike, so she and Erin were both in jeans, trainers, and t-shirts. It wasn't exactly what she pictured herself wearing on her first date with Scorpius, but he'd said it was only sort of like a date. Hopefully, they'd have a chance to do another one in the future.

"Just focus on staying in the moments," Erin told her. "I know you have trouble with that at times, but isn't that what today's sort of about? Just having it?"

Rose sighed, eyeing Erin over her shoulder in the mirror.

"I'd like to think I'm getting better about it, but I know I get caught up in my head some."

"And goodness knows Scorpius does too, so one of you has to learn to be spontaneous."

Rose laughed at the accuracy of Erin's statement. It was funny, in a way. Al and Erin were both a little too inclined to act impulsively, while Rose and Scorpius were much more prone to following their plans. If either of them were going to learn to be more spontaneous, she thought it was probably going to be him.

There was a knock on the door and Rose finished off the end of her plait before opening it to Hugo, who informed them everyone was getting food out for lunch.

"And Fred, Dom and Ly just showed up and they said Al and Scorp were right behind them," he informed them as he left, causing Rose to run to the window as soon as her brother left the room. She felt a bit like a fool as she bounced on the balls of her feet a few times in excitement when she caught sight of them coming down the lane.

"Bloody hell, it's hardly even a date," Erin said as she rolled off the bed and came to stand next to a beaming Rose. The boys were now within shouting distance and Erin pulled open the window, leaning out to holler down at them.

"Oi! You lot seen any sexy Slytherin's wandering around? We've been on the lookout for some!"

Rose pulled a laughing Erin back into the room, her face flushing red with embarrassment as the sound of Al's laughter and hollered response sounded from outside.

"Nope, but if you see a couple of gorgeous Gryffindors, let us know!"

Erin smirked at Rose's flushed face before hurrying out of the room and down the stairs. Rose shook her head in disbelief as she grabbed a jacket and turned to close the window, catching a glimpse of Scorpius as he walked slightly behind Al. He glanced up at the window just before she shut it, and they exchanged a quick smile upon seeing each other's slightly pink faces.

The boys were inside by the time she made it downstairs, the house a flurry of activity as everyone threw together sandwiches for lunch. They all ate and mingled, Rox, Lorcan, Dom, Ly, and Fred heading down to the dock to test out the boat as soon as they'd scarfed down their food. It was a warm day, and Hugo managed to convince Caleb to go get in the water, Charlotte insisting it was too cold, and Lily left without much of an option as she almost forlornly watched the boys go upstairs to change.

"I'm probably just going to do some reading," said Charlotte, seeming entirely at ease with leaving Lily to her own devices as she picked up a book off one of the couches that she must have brought down earlier. They all watched as she walked out back and made herself comfortable in one of the patio chairs. Rose could tell that everyone but James and Violet were taking special interest in what had just happened. Charlotte was normally very social, and while she could be caught reading, it wasn't something she did in preference to something that involved other people.

"We're going for a bike ride," said James, shoving one last apple slice in his mouth before he and Violet headed out as well. The kitchen remained awkwardly silent, Lily still staring after Charlotte in confusion.

"You two want to get some bikes out for us?" Erin said to Al and Scorpius, and the boys quickly left the kitchen. Once the three girls were alone, Erin had to say Lily's name a few times before she got her attention.

"She's been acting strange since we got here," Lily said. "I don't know if she's mad at me for some reason or…"

"Look," said Rose, sitting next to her cousin. "She's your best friend so she probably knows you're hiding something. I know Hugo knows about you and Caleb, so why not just tell Charlotte too?"

Hugo had approached Rose a few days after she'd encouraged Lily to tell him, saying he'd talked to Lily and Caleb and that the latter would be coming as his guest. Other than that, he'd given nothing away, but Rose could only assume he knew the truth.

"I know. You're probably right," said Lily, sighing in resignation. "Maybe I'll go talk to her now?"

"You should," said Erin, grabbing her jacket off the back of one of the chairs. "I've learned that opening up can actually help."

She gave Lily a small smile, and the younger girl seemed encouraged as Rose and Erin made their way out of the house. Rose led them to a shed that was attached to the left of the house just as Al and Scorpius brought out the final two bicycles they would be using.

Rose smiled as she gripped the familiar handlebars. These bikes had served as their means of transportation on more than one family holiday, and some of her favorite memories involved riding them into town with her family. And now she was excited to share that same experience with Scorpius.

"You ready?" asked Al, and he swung a leg over his bike and pushed off, Erin following right behind him as he headed off down the lane. Rose looked at Scorpius, who was standing by his own bike and grinning slightly at her.

"Shall we?"

* * *

The ride into town was relaxed and refreshing. It was a beautiful day with only a few clouds in the sky and the temperature slightly unseasonably warm. Scorpius and Rose had easily caught up with Al and Erin, and the four of them had talked and laughed easily, thanks to the feeling of freedom and elation that came from coasting down the paved lane, a cool breeze hitting their faces. Al and Erin broke off roughly halfway through their trip, hollering that they'd catch up with Scorpius and Rose before they were set to meet everyone else.

The rest of the bike ride was spent with Rose filling Scorpius in even more on her interview. as well as the one she was hoping to have with the magazine she'd mentioned the day before.

"It's almost like a local paper for a wizarding village in Kent. They do human interest pieces and short stories as well as local news and events," she explained as they chained their bikes to a rack in a park a short ways into town. The small village had come into view after the last curve in the lane, and Scorpius could immediately see exactly why Rose liked it. It was quaint and familiar. There looked to be only one main road, but plenty to do in the small town. He could see people walking around and cars driving through, reminding him that it was Muggle.

"Would you enjoy that?" he asked as they started heading out of the park and towards the town. Rose shrugged.

"It's not exactly what I had in mind, but you've got to start somewhere. And who knows. Maybe I'll even get the chance to write some with such a small publication. I think I'd like that."

She'd been smiling the whole time she talked about it, and her attitude was infectious. Scorpius found he couldn't do much other than smile either as he took in his best friend. Seeing her in her very casual muggle attire not only made him feel thankful he'd dressed the same, but he found he liked her that way. Rose always dressed rather simple, but elegant. There was something about seeing her pull off her hooded jacket and tie it around her waist when she grew too warm that endeared her to him even more. He copied her movements as they reached the edge of the park.

"So, what's this big plan you have?" she asked with a somewhat teasing nature, but he could tell that she was letting whatever nerves she might be feeling about their day start to pop up now that they were actually there. Scorpius did his best to ignore his own nerves. He was just hanging out with his friend Rose. His friend who he very much fancied and who definitely fancied him back at least somewhat. There was nothing to be nervous about.

"How about some dessert?" he suggested, gesturing towards an ice cream shop that was just up the street. Rose nodded and gave him an encouraging smile as they fell into step beside each other.

"You're not nervous, are you?"

He chuckled at her bluntness, immediately feeling less nervous at the familiarity of it.

"I was a bit," he said. "Feeling better now that we're actually here. Almost feels normal, yeah?"

She nodded and grinned again as they reached the ice cream shop. He bought them each a cone - Rose got strawberry and he chose mint chip - and they left to wander around a few of the shops in the area.

It felt just like their trips to Hogsmeade, but there was something freeing in knowing it was just them. Unless one of her cousins or their friends decided to pop into town, no one here would recognize them.

She pointed out various things that held memories from her childhood and he enjoyed listening to the stories she told. They laughed when his ice cream almost dripped down his shirt and she blushed when he boldly wiped some of her own off her chin with his thumb. In one of the shops, Rose took a liking to a necklace that had three spiral sections all connected to almost form a triangle. It was made of some type of bronze material and was about the size of her thumbnail. He felt a thrill at the hesitant yet pleased look she gave him when he offered to buy it for her.

"You really don't have to," she assured him.

"I know. But I'd like to."

Rose hesitated for a moment longer, but eventually nodded and allowed him to pull out some of the muggle money he'd been able to acquire before their trip.

"People are going to start getting ideas if you keep buying me jewelry," she teased as they headed out of the shop. She was clutching the bag and had an almost nervous quality as she looked at him, like he'd rethink what he'd just done at her words. But he just smiled, noticing the bracelet he'd given her for Christmas on her wrist. They started walking down the street again before he responded.

"I don't mind if you don't."

She just smiled, and he became even more comfortable at her obvious approval of what people might say.

"Besides," he said as they made their way down the street, "it's not like I only get you jewelry. I'm also the idiot who almost forgot your birthday last month and had to settle for buying you fudge that you don't even like all that much."

Rose laughed heartily and Scorpius had a hard time believing that this day was actually going this well. He'd been determined to merely spend time together away from everything else, nothing more. He meant what he'd said when Al joked about snogging tips and he'd said they weren't there yet. But now he found himself wanting to reach out and link his hand with hers as he walked closer to her than was strictly necessary on the reasonably wide sidewalk. Would she mind if he did? It was swinging right there at her side. Maybe she wanted him to reach out and grab it.

"So, what next?" she asked, pulling him from his inner debate as she looked at him expectantly and switched the shopping bag she was carrying to her other hand, effectively blocking him from whatever plan he was forming.

"I thought we'd go there," he said with more confidence than he felt, and pointed ahead of them and across the street at a two story brick building with a glass front door that had the words _Public Library of Smeed_ painted across it. He watched her smile widen as she turned to face it, and she shot a grin over her shoulder at him before taking off across the street. Scorpius followed right behind her.

"When I was little and we'd come into town," said Rose, lowering her voice as he pulled the door open for her. "I'd sometimes wander off and Mum said I'd always come here."

He chuckled as he followed her inside. It was calm and cool and the second floor was visible from the first and basically consisted of a walkway with shelves of books lining the walls. He noticed a sign hanging at the top of the winding stairway that said "biographies" with an arrow pointing right, and "history" with an arrow pointing left. The ground floor housed all of the other sections of books, and Scorpius had to move quickly to keep up with Rose as she made her way through the shelves, clearly on a mission.

"They had the best kids section," she said quietly as he kept pace with her. They turned a corner and Rose's reaction to the sight in front of her assured Scorpius that he'd made the right call in bringing her here.

"I used to sit in here for hours if I could," said Rose, and Scorpius watched in amusement as she went down on her hands and knees and crawled into the club house that was thankfully void of children. She turned around and poked her head out once she was inside, looking at Scorpius expectantly. He arched a brow at her incredulously.

"Rose, there's no way we'll both fit."

"Come on," she implored. "It's bigger than it looks and one of us has to learn to be spontaneous."

She ducked her head back inside before Scorpius could ask her to clarify what she meant, and he sighed in resignation before lowering himself to the floor.

The inside actually was bigger than it looked from the outside. The doorway was the smallest part and he was pleasantly surprised to see Rose sitting comfortably in a bean bag chair, a child's book that she'd probably pulled from the stack on the floor in her hands as she flipped through it.

"What did you mean?" he asked as he crawled to take the cushion beside her. "About one of us learning to be spontaneous?"

She sighed and set the book down on the floor.

"Erin said something today about how one of us is going to have to learn to be spontaneous if we… you know…"

She trailed off, unable to voice whatever was going on between them.

"Anyway," Rose continued. "I think she's got a point."

Scorpius sighed, leaning back and situating himself so that he rested his weight on his hands and his legs were stretched out in front of him and angled towards Rose, who had her own pulled up onto her cushion and crisscrossed.

"We're not her and Al, Rose," he reminded her. "I don't think there's anything wrong with listening to people's advice and opinions, but that doesn't mean it's always going to be right for us."

He felt himself growing warm as her eyes widened a bit at his words, her gaze locked on his.

"Whatever it is that we're doing," he continued, "we're the ones doing it. It's not like they really ever listened to our advice, right?"

Rose chuckled. "Fair point. Got any other bits of sage wisdom?"

He rolled his eyes at her teasing grin, but his heart was practically beating out of his chest as he gathered his courage.

"No, but I will learn from his mistakes and do my best to be upfront and honest with you," he began. "I think you know by now how I feel and I think I know how you feel, but I don't want to rush into this. It's taken us awhile to get back to anything close to normal and I just want to enjoy today and not make it complicated. We have a lot we should probably talk about, but I think it can wait a little longer, don't you?"

Rose was looking at him in shock, but her cheeks were slightly pink and she seemed almost pleased by his words as she nodded.

"How about we don't overthink it, we do what feels comfortable, and we take it one day at a time," he continued. "Whatever 'it' is. Does that work for you?"

He watched her nervously as she took in his words, and smiled when she nodded once again in agreement.

"I think that works perfectly."

Scorpius knew he was probably beaming at her as relief swept through him that the hard part was over. Rose looked away with a slight blush on her cheeks as she pulled the necklace he'd bought her out of the bag.

"Thank you for this," said Rose, and she managed a quick glance in his direction. "It's beautiful."

"No problem," Scorpius assured her. He was able to observe her unashamedly as she read the card the necklace was attached to, twirling the end of her plait with her free hand.

"It says it's a Celtic Spiral Knot and that those can stand for eternal life as well as oneness of spirit and unity," she explained. "The three sides mean fire, water, and earth. The three elements."

Rose seemed very pleased by this as she detached the card from the necklace, undoing the clasp. She easily placed it around her neck, clasping it in front of her before twisting it around and laying the charm against the plain gray T-shirt she wore.

"Thank you," she said brightly, fiddling with it while smiling up at him.

"You're welcome," he responded, smiling himself. He sat forward before checking his watch. "We should head to the park to meet Al and Erin."

She frowned slightly and slouched in her seat, looking up at him regretfully.

"Thank you for asking me to come today," said Rose sincerely. "I had a nice time. It's always good to get away."

"Hopefully the company was nice too," he said with a teasing tone. Rose laughed, her hand resting momentarily on his arm and sending a jolt through Scorpius at the unexpected contact.

"Yes, the company was nice too," Rose assured him, and she moved to crawl out of the house. Scorpius followed and they quietly made their way back through and out of the library. The lateness of the hour was starting to show in the shadows that were cast on the street by the buildings, and the air was starting to grow cooler. Rose let out a shiver and pulled her jacket from around her waist to put it on. Scorpius found he was too nervous for these last few moments when it was just the two of them to feel much of anything else. They'd had a good time and they'd laughed and he'd been thoughtful and she'd encouraged him to relax and there was even some flirtatious behavior. There was the promise that they'd talk things through eventually, but he wanted something solid. Something that cemented this day in their minds as the start of something that would hopefully be continuing.

Looking at her smiling and shading her eyes against the sunset, part of Scorpius wanted to say to hell with waiting and tell her exactly how he felt about her. Just lay it all on the line. But they'd done so much talking lately about every little aspect of his life and his choices and he felt that words were sometimes overrated. He would tell her all those things eventually, but not tonight. Tonight, he'd do what he could to show her that she was more to him than just his friend Rose Weasley.

"Come on," he said with a jerk of his head. "The park's this way." And they took off down the street, Scorpius purposely setting a slow pace. They were silent for a moment, simply taking in the evening before Scorpius spoke.

"We said we'd do what feels comfortable, yeah?"

Rose looked at him as they continued to walk, her brown eyes reflecting warmth as the sun cast an amber light across the side of her face. She nodded.

"And you'll tell me if I do anything that makes you uncomfortable?"

She nodded again, and Scorpius took a deep breath, his eyes focusing straight ahead before he slowly reached out, He caught his index finger on her pinky as her hand swung back and forth between them as they walked. He heard Rose give a subtle intake of breath at the contact, but she didn't pull away. Scorpius looked down at their joined hands - her lightly freckled ones looking smaller than normal next to his long fingers - and he released her pinky, but only so he could slide his whole hand forward and interlock his fingers with hers.

Bringing his eyes up to meet hers, he found Rose looking at him, her eyes searching his and her mouth slightly parted. Scorpius did his best to smile at her through his nerves, and almost chuckled in relief when he felt her small hand squeeze his in reassurance and saw the corners of her mouth curl up in a smile.

"Merlin, I was so nervous to do that," he confessed with a chuckle, and Rose laughed with him.

"You don't have to be," she assured him as they continued down the street. Scorpius smiled at her, rubbing his thumb along the back of her hand and noting the blush that rose to her cheeks at the action.

"I'll keep that in mind."

They arrived at the park just before six o'clock. Al and Erin were already there waiting for them, sitting together on one of the benches. Scorpius rolled his eyes when Al let out a wolf whistle when he saw them approaching.

"Knock it off," said Scorpius as Al and Erin stood and made their way towards him and Rose. He hadn't dropped her hand, though he'd thought about it, and felt slightly disappointed when Rose pulled away as their friends reached them.

"Come on," said Erin, grabbing Rose by the arm and pulling her along as she began to lead them all out of the park. "Everyone will be waiting for us."

The two girls walked ahead of Al and Scorpius, and he tried not to think about all of the questions Erin was no doubt asking Rose about their day. He was thankful that Al merely walked silently beside him, though he did throw a smirk his way when the sound of the girls laughing drifted back to them. By the time they reached the restaurant, everyone else was already there and being seated. It was a riverside restaurant and they opted to eat outside and enjoy the beautiful evening. The staff was able to pull together some tables to allow for one long one that fit all of them nicely. It was starting to grow dark as the sun finished setting. Lights were strung across the deck and lanterns lined the table. Scorpius had lost Rose at some point during the arrival at the restaurant and the transition to their table, so he was pleasantly surprised to find her next to him as he moved to take a seat.

He smiled warmly at her as they sat, and she returned it. He'd been momentarily worried that things hadn't actually gone as well as he'd thought between them today, the fact that she'd pulled away from him and the teasing they'd received when they met up with Al and Erin possibly diminishing all of the good that had happened. In his head, he knew he probably didn't have to be, but he still had an inexplicable lingering sense of doubt that she wasn't just going to change her mind at a moments notice. It felt almost strange to be this uncertain about where things stood with them, and he certainly didn't want to feel that way. Did it all come back to the fact that he still wasn't sure that she had faith in him to be there for her and to be the person she'd said she knew he could be? He didn't know what exactly could fix that, but for now, he was going to listen a little bit more closely to his instincts, and a pay a little less attentions to his doubts.

They didn't talk much during the meal, as Rose listened to Eva ramble on about training and Scorpius talked to Dom about how unfulfilled she felt in her job but didn't have a real clue about what she wanted to do instead.

As they ate, talked, and laughed with everyone else, he sat close to her, managing to work up the courage towards the end of the meal to reach out for her hand that was resting in her lap under the table, feeling encouraged when he found it open and her palm facing up, as if she were waiting for him to make his move. That didn't stop her from struggling a little bit through whatever she was telling Dom, who sat across from her, when his hand made contact with hers.

"Is that new?"

He was pulled from his musings by Erin's question, who was sitting next to Dom and looking questioningly in the direction of Rose's chest. Scorpius' eyes flickered to the necklace that was lying there, and he felt Rose's hand flinch in his and almost expected her to pull away, but she merely squeezed his hand a little tighter.

"Yes, it is," she told Erin, who seemed to realize she'd gotten it earlier in the day and asked no more questions. Scorpius had only wanted to keep things a secret because he didn't want people asking questions or bothering them when they didn't even fully know what was happening themselves. He had no idea what Rose was going to say in response to the question Lily, who was sat on the other side of Dom and had noticed the exchange, asked next.

"It's lovely. Where'd you get it?"

He held his breath and tried to distract himself by listening to the conversation Hugo and Caleb were having next to him, but he heard Rose's answer loud and clear.

"He bought it for me."

Scorpius quickly turned to look at her with wide eyes, knowing she'd be looking at him as well. She was beaming, though she seemed nervous, and he squeezed her hand as he returned her smile. Rose returned her attention to her cousins, and Scorpius did the same. Dom was looking between them curiously, Erin was smirking, and Lily was looking at the place where their arms disappeared under the table. The youngest Potter drew her eyes up to flit between their smiling faces as realization lit up her features.

"No. Fucking. Way."

* * *

"How long has this been happening? I mean, it's been bloody obvious for months how you feel about each other, but I assumed neither of you had done anything about it. Especially with all the shit that's gone on this year. Who made the first move? Are you actually together?"

Lily paused for a breath, and Rose was finally able to get a word in.

"We just had our first sort of date today, Lil."

"And?" she questioned. Rose sighed, leaning back on her headboard and taking in the expectant faces of the three girls in front of her. The rest of the evening had basically continued without much fanfare or incident. The only people who'd really noticed what had been revealed at the dinner table were Erin, Lily, Dom, and Charlotte, who had been sitting beside Lily. Hugo and Caleb had heard Lily swear and asked what was going on, but Charlotte had been quick to step in and distract them. The cabins had as many bikes as beds, and they'd all ridden back to their respective dwelling places around nine o'clock, which was why Rose now found herself cornered by Lily, Charlotte, and Erin for details about her day.

"And what? That's as long as anything's been happening."

"What about her other questions?" Charlotte asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. As quickly as Lily had been talking, Rose remembered clearly every question she'd asked. She sighed in resignation.

"He asked me yesterday if I wanted to spend today in town with him. I said it sounded a bit like a date, and he said sort of. We're not overthinking it. We said we'll take it one day at a time and only do what we're comfortable with. And we obviously weren't comfortable enough to really discuss the details yet."

"Seemed perfectly comfortable with holding hands," Erin said with a smirk, and Rose shot her a look.

"Why are you so irritable about this?" asked Lily. "This is a good thing, right?"

"I think so," Rose began, before speaking with more conviction. "Yes, it _is_ a good thing. I guess I just sort of wish he'd said something a little more concrete, even though he did say we'd talk about it eventually."

"It's something though, right?" asked Charlotte. "At least you know he's interested."

"She's right," said Erin. "Even though I'd wished he'd said something sooner, I sort of always knew Al fancied me in some way even if I denied it. And you have a hell of a lot less room to doubt seeing as he actually asked you out."

Rose laughed in relief, feeling grateful that Scorpius' wasn't as idiotic as her cousin had been at the start of his relationship with Erin.

"How come _you_ didn't say anything more concrete?" Lily asked.

"You know what it's like, Lily," said Rose. "It's hard to take that step past friendship."

"Which is probably why he hasn't said anything yet either," said Erin. "He's probably just as nervous about it as you are if not more so. You two actually made a lot of progress today. It probably would have been a bit overwhelming to have everything at once."

Rose found she had to agree with Erin. It would have been a lot to digest if they'd actually discussed everything. That could be saved for another time, just like he'd said. She was perfectly happy to have the memory of today simply be what it was.

A thought crossed her mind, and she looked between Erin and Lily curiously.

"It's funny how differently we've all handled these transitions. You two were in denial," she gestured at Erin, "and you two are still being all secretive."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, her eyes widened in fear and her gaze snapped to Charlotte, who waved away her concerns.

"She finally came clean earlier," said Charlotte with a jerk of her head towards Lily. "I knew something was going on, but not the extent."

"We ended up spending the day with the boys down by the water," said Lily. "After she made me grovel a bit for keeping the fact that I have my first boyfriend from her."

"Any plans for telling everyone else?" asked Erin. Rose could tell her friend was growing antsy as she continued to pretend to keep Lily's secret from Al, while actually keeping it under wraps that Al knew the truth. It was all growing a little too confusing.

"I don't know," she said with a sigh. "He actually suggested we just start acting like we're together and let people figure it out, which I'm somewhat tempted to do. But there's no way that will fly with Lou, and I doubt Al would take too kindly to finding us doing something even as simple as holding hands in the corridor."

"Well, if it makes it easier," Rose began, glancing questioningly at Erin for a moment, who looked almost pleadingly at Rose before she looked back at Lily, "Al already knows."

Lily and Charlotte's jaws both dropped in shock, and Lily was quick to point an accusatory finger at Erin.

"I swear, I didn't tell him," she assured her boyfriend's sister. "He worked it out on his own."

"How?" she asked in a high pitched voice verging slightly on panic.

"For one thing, he's actually more observant than we give him credit for," said Rose, "and he also managed to swipe the map from James. It just confirmed his suspicions for him when he kept catching the two of you together."

Lily buried her face in her hands and let out a groan.

"At least you don't have to tell him," said Charlotte, and Lily lifted her head to look at them all with a painful expression.

"Scorpius knows too, and Violet might have an inclining as well," Erin said with a grimace, and Lily flopped back on the bed with a dramatic huff.

"You might as well just let the cat out of the bag," said Charlotte, failing to contain an amused smile as she looked down at her friend.

"I thought we were talking about Rose tonight," said Lily, letting out a huff and propping herself up on her hands.

"I think we've covered me," said Rose when they all turned their gazes to her.

"I have one more question," Lily insisted, and seeing as she'd had to learn and deal with quite a bit tonight, Rose indulged her.

"What happens now?"

That, Rose realized, was a very good question. And one she found she didn't quite know the answer to. Did she know what she wanted and hoped would happen? Absolutely. But she had no clue how they would get there, or if they even would. Their day had been a step in a direction she very much wanted to go, and she could only wait and hope that he wanted the same thing.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the delay! Hope it was worth the wait :) I've just had other things going on in life and I've actually been doing a lot of reading. It's been very refreshing! Thanks for all of your amazing reviews and looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this chapter!**


	42. So glad we've almost made it

Eva left to go back to training on Friday morning and Corbin was set to arrive sometime in the early afternoon. Rose could tell that Scorpius was nervous to have his cousin join them, seeing as Corbin only really knew Al and barely knew Rose. What they hadn't considered, was the fact that he was the same year as Caleb. The two actually had most of their classes together. They were friendly when Corbin arrived, and even Hugo had been quick to offer to just sleep on one of the couches and give his bed to Corbin so he could share a room with Caleb. This didn't surprise Rose that much. She'd found Hugo passed out on those couches on more than one occasion, and he was the type of person that could sleep anywhere. It had set Scorpius at ease to see his cousin so readily accepted, and Rose would wager her brother - who was more caring than he usually let on - knew this would be the case.

Rose loved how easily her family had accepted Scorpius; first as Al's friend, and then as hers. Hugo wasn't even aware of the exact nature of her relationship with Scorpius, but he didn't even seem to second guess being considerate to a member of Scorpius' family.

Corbin had arrived just in time for lunch, and once they'd eaten, they all set out to go down to the water since it was once again a warm day for the time of year. The quickest way to get there was through the grass, though you could always get there by the dock.

There was a steep hill that crested not far from the edge of the water and evened out into a smooth grassy area right before the rather rough yet small patch of sand. All of the boys had been daring enough to put on their swim trunks, and proceeded to take turns running and jumping off the dock into the water. Most of the girls had come prepared to get in the water as well, with Rose being the exception, thinking it not quite warm enough for a swim. It hadn't taken long for Al to throw Erin over his shoulder and haul her in, Erin protesting through her laughs the entire time as she clung to him in an effort to stay above the water before she eventually gave in, even jumping off the dock herself a few times. James had been a little more gentle with Violet, but managed to sneak up on her and splash her from where she stood wading in the water and talking to Roxanne. It hadn't earned him much more than a gentle scolding.

Rose laughed along with everyone else when Dominique, who was sitting on the dock and playing judge as the boys tried to see who could jump the farthest or make the biggest splash, managed to trip Lysander on one of his attempts, which caused him to belly flop straight into the water. He'd come up spluttering and scowling as everyone laughed with the exception of Fred, who cheered loudly. Lysander had immediately enacted his revenge and quickly pulled Dom off the dock and into the chilly water.

Rose rather enjoyed simply sitting on a blanket in the soft grass. She had a book with her, but was content to observe the joy filled actions of her many cousins and friends. Lily and Caleb still hadn't told everyone about their relationship, but she and Charlotte were sitting on a rock a bit of the way into the water, and he'd consistently swim over towards Lily and talk to her in an obviously flirtatious manner. Rose could hear Lily's laughter at whatever his comments were from where she sat not far from the shore.

As the others continued to jump off the dock, Hugo, Scorpius, Corbin, and Caleb broke away to toss a frisbee. They even managed to convince Charlotte to hop down from her spot next to Lily and join them. It was surprising to Rose to watch Corbin come up to Charlotte and give her instructions on how to properly throw the round disc. As far as she knew, the two didn't really know each other, but they seemed to be getting along well. Maybe Corbin would continue to hit it off with everyone.

They'd been out there for maybe half an hour and Rose had finally managed to distract herself with her book when she heard the sound of someone walking towards her and a shadow crossed over her lap. A few drops of water dripped into her hair as she looked up to see Scorpius grinning down at her.

"Planning on having any fun today?" he asked, shaking out his wet hair with an innocent smile. Rose flinched and squealed slightly, making an effort to protect her book as droplets of water flew at her.

"You prat!" she said, though she had a hard time not smiling in amusement. "I was enjoying myself quite nicely until you so rudely disturbed my peace."

Scorpius merely laughed, undeterred by her less than pleased words.

"Come on, Rose. Even Violet and Rox are in the water."

Having missed this earlier, Rose looked to see that Violet had joined Lily on the rock, and Roxanne was clinging to Lorcan's back in an effort to stay as out of the water as possible as he cheered on Ly and Dom who were in a chicken fight with Al and Erin.

"I'm not prepared," said Rose, gesturing to her shorts and T-shirt and looking up at him imploringly, knowing it was a weak argument. It was getting warmer as the day wore on, and she was feeling a bit like a dip in the water would be nice. He gave her an unimpressed look.

"Are you a witch or not, Rose?"

She scowled at his pleased smirk, and stood with an aggravated sigh, her wand in her hand. Concentrating for a moment, she waved her wand, knowing her swimwear would now be revealed as soon as she took off her shorts and shirt. Realizing what she'd done, Scorpius grinned brilliantly at her, and the cold water she was about to face became a little more worth it, knowing that he was happy to have her join him.

"Care to jump?"

Rose looked at him with wide eyes at the suggestion.

"Are you mad?" she asked incredulously.

"Come on," he reasoned, moving closer so she had to look up more to meet his mischievous gaze. "Isn't it easier just to jump in and get it over with?"

Whether his metaphor was intentional or not, it wasn't lost on Rose. Things had been like they normally were between them all morning, with no real change other than the fact that they looked and smiled more freely at each other. The day before had almost seemed like preparation for the change that she felt was soon to happen between them, but neither had fully jumped yet. Did they need to? Or were they really just going to be content to build whatever this was one day at a time until they were so far in and it felt so normal, they weren't hardly even sure how they got there? The thought sounded nice, but jumping almost sounded better.

"Fine," she relented with an exaggerated sigh, pulling off her shorts and her shirt to reveal a simple white one piece. "Jumping it is."

Scorpius grinned and grabbed her hand, dragging her behind him and towards the dock. She barely had time to prepare herself as he took off running, still holding tightly to her hand as their bare feet pounded against the wood. With a yell, Rose found herself pulled off the dock and into the air as they jumped together, hitting the startlingly cold water with a rippling splash.

She was laughing as soon as she came up for air, and he was laughing with her. Their hands had slipped apart when they'd hit the water, but he reached out for her, and she found both of her hands slipping into his under the water as he pulled her closer.

"Seems like you actually _are_ becoming a bit spontaneous," Rose teased, and he laughed. The water was deep and Scorpius was helping her stay afloat as they treaded water. Rose felt herself shivering from the cold as well as the way he looked at her with something close to purpose as the movement of the water and the tugging of her hands in his brought them closer. Part of her thought he was about to kiss her or at least embrace her, and he might have, but Hugo chose that moment to throw the frisbee at the back of Scorpius' head.

"Hugo!" Rose hollered at her brother. Scorpius rubbed the back of his head and gave her an apologetic look. He'd let go of her at the sudden intrusion, and they both swam towards the shallow end, Scorpius with the frisbee in his hand.

"Watch what you're doing," Rose snapped at her brother, who easily caught the frisbee as Scorpius tossed it to him.

"Relax, Rosie. Just trying to get Scorp back in the game," he drawled, and turned to throw it in the direction of one of his other friends. Rose watched the momentary shock appear on her brother's face when he noticed that Caleb was leaning on the rock that just Lily was now perched on, completely absorbed in conversation with her, and Corbin and Charlotte were chatting animatedly as they stood towards the shore.

"Here," said Rose, drawing his attention and moving a bit away from Scorpius so the three formed a bit of a triangle. She held out her hands for the frisbee and Hugo tossed it to her, Rose's reflexes from playing keeper on a recreational basis coming in handy as she easily caught it.

The three of them continued to toss the frisbee as the others carried on around them. Violet was sitting on the edge of the dock with Roxanne as they talked with James and Lor, who were still in the water. Dom and Ly had gotten in the boat and she was hollering instructions at him as he rowed them further out into the water. Fred was dozing on the dock with his arm covering his eyes, his dark skin soaking up the sun. Glancing around, Rose realized that Al and Erin had left the water and were now lounging on the blanket she'd vacated.

After awhile, Fred moved to the edge of the dock and sat, tossing the frisbee with Hugo and leaving Rose and Scorpius to do their own thing if they wished, but Scorpius stayed where he was, forming a new triangle with Fred and Hugo as Rose made her way over to him. He wore a slight look of concern on his face.

"What's the matter?" Rose asked quietly as she reached him, no longer feeling the chill from the water as strongly as she did before.

"I'm not sure," he responded in an equally quiet tone, his contemplative gaze fixed on Hugo. Her brother seemed fine, though he almost appeared to be going through the motions of what he was doing without giving it much thought. His face was blank as he continued to automatically catch the frisbee from Fred before tossing it to Scorpius. The only other thing she noticed him doing was occasionally glancing towards the shore. While Hugo did have a temper and let himself get carried away at times when he was riled up, Rose knew that if something was really bothering him, it would simmer below the surface. It almost seemed like that was happening now, and it appeared Scorpius had caught on.

"Did something happen?" asked Rose, and Scorpius gave a slight shrug.

"I have an inkling."

"Hey, anyone want anything from the house?" said Caleb with a gesture over his shoulder. He and Lily had made their way out of the water and were standing on the shore with Charlotte and Corbin. "We're running up to grab drinks and some snacks."

"Just bring enough for all of us," Fred requested, and the four of them turned to make the short walk up to the cabin they were staying in. A feeling of dread from an unidentifiable source began to fill Rose as she watched them disappear over the hill.

"Hugh!" Fred hollered to get his cousin's attention, and Rose watched as Hugo turned to Fred just in time to catch the frisbee that was launched at him. He'd been staring after the four people who'd wandered off to the house together, and his brow remained furrowed as he tossed the frisbee to Scorpius. An uneasy silence settled for a few moments as Fred's holler had drawn the attention of everyone remaining in the water to Hugo's odd mood. It thankfully didn't last long, as they continued to toss the disc and Violet asked what happened to Dom and Ly.

"Aren't they still out in the boat?" asked Rose, shading her eyes as she peered out to where she had last seen them. The boat did indeed look empty. They all watched for a moment, and Rose felt something akin to embarrassment when the boat rocked a bit and they heard a squeal of laughter coming from its direction that was quickly muffled.

"Bloody hell, they're still out there, aren't they?" Lorcan grumbled, rubbing a hand over his face and taking a deep breath.

"Oh, leave them be," Roxanne told her fiancé, grinning as she nudged his shoulder with her toe from her perch on the dock. "He had to watch you be all happy and obnoxious about a girl when we were in school."

"He still does," Fred said with a smirk. Roxanne was quick to shove him into the water from her seat next to him, much to the amusement of everyone else.

"Watch it or we'll kick you out of the wedding party," threatened Roxanne as her brother came spluttering to the surface.

"You'd never dream of such a thing," said Fred with a smirk. "Remember how we were in the womb together and everything?"

Roxanne rolled her eyes, but looked amused by their banter. "That's the only time you get to use that all week."

Fred laughed. "Fine. Now who wants to go help me tip them over?"

He gestured to the boat, and James and Lorcan were quick to follow as Fred dove under the water and swam out to it. The others only had to wait a minute before both Dominique and Lysander's yells of terror echoed across the water and the boat capsized. It was all out war between the five of them after that.

"What the hell happened?" Lily asked with a laugh, signaling the return of herself and her companions. She and Caleb were carrying an armful of bottled beverages each, and Corbin and Charlotte were sitting on the ground a few feet away from Al and Erin, already digging through a basket of food they'd brought. Before anyone could answer Lily's question, Hugo strode out of the lake and past the people on the shore without so much as a look at them. Lily hollered after her cousin as she watched him walk towards the house.

"Where are you going?"

"To take a fucking piss!" he hollered back without turning around. Lily seemed stunned silent by the remark, but the others attempted to act like it was no big deal. But Lily knew better, and Rose was glad to see she was bothered by Hugo's attitude. Even though Rose wasn't sure what was wrong, she couldn't really ignore the fact that her brother's closest friends seemed to be a little distracted. If things continued this way, he was in real danger of being left out, and he probably knew it.

"I'll be right back," said Scorpius in an undertone, and with a comforting squeeze on Rose's arms, he made his way out of the water and up to the house. No one questioned him, but Lily spared a glance his way as he passed.

Without having a reason to remain in the water, Rose made her way to shore as well, moving to join Al and Erin and grabbing a towel from the stack near them. They were lying next to each other on the blanket, Erin on her back and Al on his stomach. The latter appeared to be sleeping.

"I was too comfortable to sit up so I missed everything," Erin said in a relaxed voice when she caught sight of Rose. "What's Hugo in a strop about?"

"Not entirely sure," said Rose, making an effort to keep her voice down as she wrung out her hair. "But I get the sense he's feeling a little left out."

She glanced towards Caleb, Lily, Corbin, and Charlotte, who were having a grand old time eating crisps and drinking cold bottles of pumpkin juice.

"Really?" Erin asked, propping herself up on her elbows and looking towards the group of younger witches and wizards a few meters away. "He doesn't seem the type to let himself be left out."

Rose sighed and sat on the free corner of the blanket. "I know. He had no problem interrupting me and Scorpius after we jumped in the water, but as soon as he needed to grab the attention of his friends, he froze."

Erin tilted her head in thought as she watched the others quizzically. "Maybe he's having a problem with this whole Caleb and Lily thing?"

"But he seemed fine before today," said Rose.

"Is it Corbin, then? Do they have issues at school that we didn't know about?"

"He gave up his bed for Corbin so I highly doubt that."

An impatient groan came from Al, and he turned his head - which had been previously facing away from them - so that he was looking up at Rose and Erin.

"You two are so bloody meddlesome," he said in a groggy voice. "He's a teenage boy. We go through things. Let him be."

He rested his head back on the blanket and closed his eyes.

"You didn't seem to have an issue with meddling when it was for _my_ supposed benefit," Erin said with a smirk.

"Yeah, well," Al said with a sigh, his eyes still closed as his head rested on his folded hands on the blanket, "that's different."

Erin shook her head in amusement. "Go back to sleep, you idiot."

He grinned lazily and reached an arm out, draping it across Erin's stomach. "You love me. Admit it."

Erin's face was bright red, but Al couldn't see it. She recovered quickly enough to laugh at his comment, but didn't say anything in response. Al didn't appear bothered, as he didn't seem to even fully realize what he'd said as he began to doze again.

"That a new one?" Rose asked as quietly as possible. Erin looked at her with wide eyes.

"I don't think either of us have said anything close to that yet, so yes. Definitely a new one."

Rose smirked and stood, grabbing her wand. With a wave she was dry, and she pulled on the clothes she'd discarded earlier. The sound of splashing and shouting could still be heard from the water, as well as the chattering of the four sitting a bit away from Al and Erin. They were all sufficiently distracted and occupied.

"I might go check on him," said Rose, looking up towards the house.

"Which one, Hugo or Scorpius?"

Rose gave Erin a pointed look, but her friend just grinned at her.

"My brother," Rose assured her, before quickly sneaking off and towards the house. She was surprised to actually hear voices when she got closer, and realized that the back door had been left open. Knowing full well that she should probably just make her presence known, she slowed her steps and listened, eventually coming to a stop just off the patio.

"It's not about that," said Hugo, his voice coming across as annoyed, yet resigned. "I don't have a problem with Corbin."

"Alright," said Scorpius, and Rose could hear the hint of relief in his voice. "So it's not Caleb and Lily, and it's not Corbin. The only person left in this situation is Charlotte."

There was silence, and Rose's mind was whirring. Had Charlotte done something to upset Hugo? Everything had seemed fine at dinner last night. They were sitting across from each other and joking around with Lily and Caleb.

And now Corbin was hanging out with Charlotte, Lily, and Caleb. Right.

"Look," Hugo eventually said with a sigh. "It's alright. You don't need to worry about me."

"I'm not worried," said Scorpius, "I just want you to know you have other friends here."

There was a pause before Hugo spoke again.

"You're not just checking on me because Rose asked you to?"

Silence once again, and Rose guessed Scorpius was shaking his head.

"I know what it's like to feel left out. Like an outsider. I recognize the signs."

Hugo let out a sigh and she heard the sound of him sitting heavily on one of the couches.

"I'm chuffed for Lil, and Caleb. Really," he said sincerely. "And I don't have an issue with your cousin either. I know Caleb's always gotten on well with him and he seems like an alright bloke. I guess I can understand what Charlotte sees in him."

Rose mentally thanked Scorpius for asking his next question.

"Wait, are you jealous?"

"No," Hugo snapped, not sounding at all convincing. Though most teenage boys would be defensive when asked that question. No matter how they felt. "I don't care about that. Though it is a little maddening that you all happen to be pairing off right now."

Rose grimaced. She'd felt the same way before things started to shift between herself and Scorpius.

"I get that," said Scorpius. "But isolating yourself won't help. You'll just give them more reasons to pull away from you. And I doubt they'd want that."

There was silence once again, and Rose considered making her presence known, but Hugo spoke up.

"You and Rose. That's a thing, yeah?"

There was a long enough pause to make Rose nervous, but the strong response Scorpius finally gave sent her nerves running.

"Yes. A very real thing, I hope."

"You worried she'll change her mind?"

Scorpius chuckled. "Something like that. I'm not quite sure where her head's at yet. We haven't really talked about it and I've sort of been the one taking action. She's been following, but…"

"It'd be nice for her to make a move every now and then, yeah?"

Rose wasn't sure what surprised her more; Scorpius' lack of assurance in how she felt about him, or Hugo's insight. She was suddenly thankful that she'd chose to listen in against her better judgement.

"Yeah, it would," came Scorpius' quiet reply.

"Thanks, by the way," Hugo said after a brief pause. "You didn't have to come check on me."

"It's alright. It was sort of selfish, anyway. I was worried you had an issue with my cousin."

Hugo chuckled and assured Scorpius once again that he didn't, and Rose decided now was as good a time as any to make her presence known. She stepped up onto the patio, making sure to let her feet fall heavily on the stone as she made her way towards the door. She entered just in time to hear Hugo say he was going to head back down to the water. He stood when she entered and gave her a reassuring smile as he passed by and went out the back door. Scorpius was perched on the arm of one of the chairs and he gave her a small smile when she looked at him.

"Everything alright?" she managed to ask. Scorpius gave a noncommittal shrug and scratched his jaw.

"I think so. Just a weird season of life, you know?"

Rose nodded, moving more fully into the room.

"Al said something about how teenage boys just go through things and to let him be."

Scorpius chuckled. "He might have a point."

She came to a stop in front of him, and she felt a rush of affection for Scorpius as he looked at her; uncertain, yet hopeful. He'd cared enough to follow Hugo up here and make sure he was okay. Yes, it had to do with his insecurities about whether or not they'd accept Corbin, but even that was really about people other than himself. He wanted them all to be comfortable. And she knew that he would have no problem switching up the sleeping arrangements to make Hugo feel better if he had to.

Rose was able to look Scorpius straight in the eye from the positions they were in. He'd seemed so sure of himself around her the past few days, and maybe he was. It might not have been because of any confidence he felt in her feelings towards him, and due more to the fact that he was certain he knew how he felt about her. It warmed her entire being to realize that he didn't really seem to have any misgivings other than his uncertainty of where she stood.

"Want to go back out?" he asked, his voice quiet as he watched her closely. She was standing close enough that she could see the way a light smattering of freckles had started to appear on his nose due to the past few days spent in the sun. His hair had started to dry at odd angles, which wasn't much different from the way he usually wore it. He'd also failed to put a shirt on for his treck up to the house, and the Quidditch had definitely paid off. It wasn't like he had bulging muscles or an excessively strong build, but he was toned and obviously active. He'd been rather scrawny when they'd first got to know each other, and the difference was notable.

His foot was bouncing almost nervously against the floor as she took a step closer. Rose was now able to lean against the end of the chair arm that he was straddling.

"We can, if you want," she said with a shrug.

He gulped nervously as she smiled at him. Rose could hear his heavy breathing and it wouldn't take much for her to reach out and touch him. She figured she probably would have, had the sound of laughter and footsteps not reached their ears.

With a sigh, she stepped away and walked past him into the kitchen, cursing Fred and James for having such horrible timing.

"Everyone's talking about doing a bike ride to the cliffs. You two in?" asked Fred as he too came into the kitchen.

"Sounds fun," she heard Scorpius say, and she nodded in agreement as well as she busied herself with putting away the clean dishes.

"Brilliant," said Fred, leaving the kitchen with an apple in his hand. "We're going over to ours and everyone else is meeting us there since it's on the way," he said to Scorpius. The boys said a few other things to each other about plans, but Rose wasn't really paying attention.

She'd gotten it into her head that she could simply make the next move and he'd be reassured and it would be that simple. But maybe it wasn't? Didn't she want to hear him tell her exactly how he felt about her? And she hardly had any doubts left anymore about exactly where he stood as far as that was concerned. How much more did he want to hear those things from her?

Rose had always thought that she'd never be the one to take that big step when it came to relationships. There were all the smaller ones that had happened that brought them here, but this one would be something they couldn't take back. He'd even stopped them from talking months ago, showing that he knew how much it mattered when and where they actually told each other how they felt. Now that she thought about it, she'd actually been close to being the one to speak up that night. Maybe it would be her that said something first. Maybe it should be.

The sound of the back door closing signaled the boys departure, and she slumped against the counter with a sigh, knowing the rest of the day would be spent surrounded by other people. Assuming they'd all left, she was startled to hear the sound of someone walking up behind her. By the time she looked over her shoulder, Scorpius had reached her, and she barely had time to react before he laid his hand on her arm and dropped a quick kiss on her cheek.

"I'll see you in a bit," he said with a smile, and Rose was sure she was bright red as she nodded mutely at him before he walked away. He was just about to leave the house when he stopped in the doorway and looked back at her.

"You look beautiful today, by the way," he said with a crooked smile, and then he left before Rose had a chance to say anything in return. A combination of shock, giddiness, and disappointment wove its way through her. His actions had surprised her, they were the farthest thing from unwelcome, but he'd once again been the one to take a step forward.

The more she thought about it and the more he did to show her how he felt, the more she wanted to be the one to show that she was very much interested in being more than just his friend. And not because she was following his lead, but because she wanted to hold his hand just as much as he seemed to want to hold hers. And she definitely wouldn't have minded if his mouth had landed on her lips rather than her cheek.

But if anything was going to happen before they returned to Hogwarts, Rose realized she was quickly running out of time.

* * *

Their last evening was spent around the fire pit at the house Rose was staying in. They'd all tired themselves out with their ride up to an overlook that had a beautiful view of the water and surrounding land. It was actually a cliff that dropped off rather abruptly at the edge, and was roughly a fifteen foot drop into the water. The ones who'd been the most daring had jumped, which included all of the boys and Dominique. Lily and Erin had given in at the last minute and jumped as well, but the rest of the girls had been content to watch.

The sun was now just starting to dip past the horizon, and Fred had managed to get a steady blaze going in the fire pit. Sticks and roasting forks were passed around as well as various meats and marshmallows, which seemed an odd combination to Scorpius, but was apparently a tradition. They'd conjured some extra chairs so that there was enough for everyone to have their own. Al had offered to share his with Erin, but enough had protested right off the bat that he'd backed off quickly.

"We've had enough lovey-dovey stuff this weekend," Fred grumbled, and Hugo nodded in agreement. Rose's brother had shaken off whatever had been bothering him earlier in the day and had done his best to be his usual self, which included griping about all of the couples.

"Alright, who's first?" asked James, licking off some marshmallow that had stuck to his finger.

"Who's first for what?" asked Violet from her seat next to him.

"We always take turns asking questions around the campfire," James explained. "Ever since we were kids. I think Teddy started it to get us to sit still. You're supposed to ask a question of the whole group, and whoever wants to, can answer."

"What type of questions?" asked Corbin, obviously feeling a little uncertain about sharing his personal life with people he barely knew.

"It can be anything you like," said Al with a shrug. "What's everyone's favorite color, do you have any irrational fears, who would you snog. That type of thing."

"They can be more meaningful, though," said Rose with a roll of her eyes. She was curled up in the chair next to Scorpius, a thin blanket thrown over her lap and wearing a loose sweater that was only covering her arms as she hadn't committed to pulling it over her head.

"Right, like that one time Lucy asked what we'd all like said at our funerals," said Hugo with a chuckle. They all shared a laugh at this.

"It can be more abstract than that too," said Roxanne.

"I've got one, if that's okay," said Charlotte, and James nodded at her. "If you could pick any other name for yourself, would you? And what would it be?"

A murmuring moved through the group at the tough question, and Scorpius wasn't surprised to hear Lysander speak up first.

"I'd probably do something boring, like Paul."

This got a chuckle, but Dominique looked outraged from her seat beside him.

"But I love your name!"

He scoffed at her. "Why?"

"It's unique," she insisted.

"And it was the name of a Spartan Admiral," said Corbin. "Pretty heroic."

Everyone looked at Corbin in surprise and he shrugged.

"I'm into history."

"Well I'd probably go with something a little more masculine," said Hugo, poking at the fire with a stick.

"Hugo's masculine," said Rose.

"Not as masculine as James," said the oldest Potter, who puffed out his chest.

"Whatever you say, Jamie," said Lily. She smirked as everyone laughed at his scowl.

"Mine shortens nice enough that I don't have to live with it all the time," said Al.

"What's so wrong with it, Albus?" asked Erin, his name coming out almost sultry as she looked teasingly at him and ran a hand down his arm. Al gulped and his cheeks turned pink as they all wolf whistled and jeered.

"Knock it off," he managed to shout over them, but he slipped Erin's hand into his when she grinned and leaned over to kiss his cheek.

"I always wanted to when I was a kid," said Scorpius in an attempt to divert attention from his friend. "It's a bit of a mouthful, isn't it?"

There was some good humored chuckling at that before he continued.

"But it's sort of a part of me now. I'm not sure I'd want to give that up."

A few people nodded contemplatively, and others seemed impressed. Rose seemed to be beaming at him.

"I've got one," said Fred. "If you could have any animal or magical creature as a pet, what would it be?"

They all continued asking and answering questions, laughing when Rose insisted that she would simply use the extra time to read more when Lily asked what people would do if it wasn't necessary to sleep.

"Imagine how much you could learn!" she insisted.

"Imagine how much you could _see_ ," Lysander countered.

"Imagine how much you could _eat,"_ said Fred, much to everyone's amusement.

The evening wore on until people were starting to grow drowsy. Violet had asked for everyone's favorite memory at Hogwarts. It was probably going to be the last question of the night, and when Caleb gave an answer that was a memory with his dormmates, Lily chose that moment to finally accidentally spill the beans.

"Your favorite memory isn't about me?" she asked in indignation. Scorpius heard Rose gasp and saw Al and Erin look quickly over at Lily. Her hand had flown to her mouth as she stared wide eyed at Caleb, who was stuttering incoherently. Charlotte was glancing around the circle and Hugo was trying not to laugh.

"What?" James asked, his head tilted in confusion. "Why would it have to do with you?"

Lily looked at her brother guiltily before glancing imploringly at Violet, who was grinning open mouthed and lookin between Caleb and Lily. She seemed to understand what Lily needed, and rested her hand on James' arm to grab his attention. He looked at Violet in confusion, but Dom spoke up first.

"Are you two dating?" she asked with glee. Lily managed to snap out of her fear for a moment to throw a raised eyebrow at Dom.

"Are the two of you?" she asked, pointing between Dom and Ly. The pair looked at each other and Lysander shrugged before Dom looked back at her cousin.

"Sure. Now answer the question."

Lily scowled at her failure to divert attention from herself.

"Yeah," Caleb said in a strong voice, looking at Lily with determination. "Have been since Christmas."

"What?!"

The cry of outrage had come from James, and every eye turned to him. He was looking between Lily and Caleb with wide eyes.

"Lily, you're not allowed to date," said James as if it were obvious. Scorpius heard Al stifle a laugh at his brother's rather idiotic comment. If there was one way you could be sure Lily Potter would do what you didn't want her to, it was to tell her she couldn't.

"Thankfully, that's not your call," Lily told her brother. "And it's none of your business either."

"Do Mum and Dad know?" James asked, thinking he had her there.

"As a matter of fact, yes," Lily said haughtily. "I told them before we left on Wednesday."

"You did?"

This question came from Caleb, who had shrunk back in his seat some at James' question. He appeared to have been completely unaware of this development.

"I figured we were telling everyone after the holiday," Lily told her boyfriend. "And I had an opening. Plus I knew they wouldn't have liked it if I'd told them after we'd got back from being on holiday together."

Despite himself, James actually seemed impressed by this. Caleb was grinning as he reached out and placed his hand on Lily's where it sat on the arm of her chair.

"Oi! None of that," said James, wagging a finger at Caleb touching his sister. Scorpius had to hand it to Caleb when he didn't remove his hand, though that might have mostly been due to the fact that Lily seemed to be gripping it tightly.

"So you and Al can snog your girlfriends in front of everyone but I can't hold my boyfriend's hand?"

James looked to Al for help at his sister's challenging stare. Al raised his hands in surrender.

"I'd let it rest if I were you. I've managed to get used to it. And he's an alright bloke."

Lily was beaming at her brother as Caleb looked at Al in shock. James looked positively defeated.

"Fine. But I'm watching you, Wood."

Caleb nodded, doing his best to refrain from smirking. "I'd expect nothing less."

It wasn't much later when they decided to call it a night, reluctantly leaving the fire, knowing they'd have to head home the following day. And most of them would head back to Hogwarts on Sunday.

"I can't believe how fast it went," Rose said with a yawn as she vanished her conjured chair.

"That usually happens when you're actually enjoying yourself," Al said as he stretched. "You all up for one last ride in the morning before we head out?" he asked Rose, Scorpius, and Erin. They all nodded.

"We should get going," said Scorpius. Lorcan and Roxanne had left a few minutes ago, but they could still see Fred, Lysander, and Dom making their way down the lane, Dom being carried on Lysander's back.

Al nodded and told Erin goodnight, kissing her briefly before yawning out a goodnight to Rose as well as he began to follow after Dom, Ly, and Fred. Erin followed Caleb, Hugo and Lily inside. Charlotte had volunteered to help Corbin get set up on the couch since he'd gone up to Hugo before dinner and insisted he take the couch that night. Scorpius wondered if his cousin had picked up on the tension earlier, but he appreciated his thoughtfulness either way. It was now just James and Violet putting out the fire as Scorpius turned to a sleepy looking Rose, though she seemed a little more alert than she had been a few moments ago.

He'd felt rather brave earlier, assuming she was giving him some clear signs and allowing himself to take some initiative once more. But his bravery and confidence had dulled with the fire, so he was prepared to leave things be for the night.

"See you in the morning," he said with a small smile and a nod, and he turned to follow after Al. He stopped when he felt her hand rest on his arm, and he'd barely turned to look back at her when she stood up on her tiptoes and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. His eyes snapped to hers as she lowered herself down, a nervous yet pleased smile on her face.

"Goodnight," she said quietly, and with a final squeeze of his arm, she turned and walked into the house.

With a new spring in his step, Scorpius turned to walk away, and he did his best to wipe what he was sure was a very pleased smile from his face when he received a smirk from James as he walked past him. He didn't really care though. Their time there had gone quickly, just like Rose had said, but as far as he was concerned, it was time that had been very well spent.

* * *

 **A/N: My humblest of apologies for my absence! Hopefully it won't be so long next time. I don't know if I can promise regularly weekly updates again but I'd like to be able to! Lots of life happening lately. Hope you enjoyed the conclusion to their Easter Holiday! Happy Reading :)**


	43. Remember to let her into your heart

Since arriving back at Hogwarts after Easter, nothing had happened. That wasn't entirely true, but as far as Rose was concerned, it might as well be. She and Scorpius had spent the last morning of the holiday in the company of their friends, and thanks to their busy schedules, they'd barely had a moment alone since returning to the castle. Scorpius had training for the last Quidditch match of the season that was fast approaching, Rose had to cover for a prefect one night, and they'd both had a meeting with McGonagall just to check how things were going. This had left them only a few free nights that week, all of which had been spent studying and usually in the presence of Al and Erin.

There'd been the occasional time when they were sitting together at a meal and he'd hold her hand for a moment, or they'd be studying in the library or the common room and his arm would go around her seat or across the back of the couch. It was something, but they'd barely had a chance to talk about anything.

It was enough to preoccupy her mind in class, which didn't bode well as they made their way to Defense Against the Dark Arts on Friday for their first lesson in conjuring patronuses. It was a small comfort that her uncle would be there to instruct the class, just like he was every year. It wasn't that Simpson couldn't teach the lesson, but Harry had done it for so long now that it was tradition. Plus, he enjoyed it.

Rose smiled as they entered the class and she saw her Uncle Harry standing at the front, leaning against the desk and talking to his former fellow Auror. He noticed Rose, Al, Erin, and Scorpius, and gestured for them to approach. Al and Rose did so boldly, Erin and Scorpius trailing behind them.

"I'd appreciate it if you lot didn't give me any trouble today," he said with a pointed look. "Some of your older siblings and cousins have been known to take advantage."

"I'm not James, Dad," said Al with a roll of his eyes. "I actually take things seriously."

Harry chuckled and clapped his hand on his son's shoulder.

"Alright, Scorpius?" asked Harry, sticking his hand out to shake Scorpius'. "Looking forward to having both you and Al joining us soon."

He truly seemed delighted by the idea, and Scorpius was beaming.

"I am too, sir," he assured him.

"Sir is only for working hours," Harry corrected him.

"Isn't that what this is?" Scorpius asked with a slight chuckle. Harry laughed and nodded.

"Fair point. So I'll be expecting sirs from the lot of you," he said with a mock serious look at each of them. They all laughed, but Rose noticed that Erin's sounded nervous. It suddenly struck Rose that Erin probably hadn't seen Harry since she'd started dating his son. Erin's eyes almost widened in fear when Harry turned his attention to her.

"Ethan wanted me to tell you that he managed his patronus in the first lesson, so he's expecting the same from you."

It was said teasingly and not at all in a way to be taken seriously, but Erin looked downright terrified. Defense was one of her worst subjects, and now she had to perform in front of her boyfriend's father.

"You'll be fine," said Al when he noticed her state of near panic. He reached back and grabbed her hand, pulling her forward to stand next to him before throwing his arm around her shoulders. "Just think about me and it'll be the easiest thing in the world."

He was smirking down at her, but Erin turned bright red and scowled up at him. Scorpius chuckled from his place beside Rose, and he nodded towards a confused looking Harry when Rose looked up at him in question.

"This is new," said Harry, pulling Erin's and Al's attention back to himself. A flicker of panic crossed Al's face when he realized what he'd just done in front of his father, but he didn't remove his arm from its place around Erin's shoulders.

"Yeah, a bit," said Al, looking uncomfortable.

"We'll go grab seats," said Scorpius, and Rose followed after him, leaving Al to explain his new relationship status to his father.

"Why did I find that so amusing?" Scorpius asked with a chuckle as he took a seat. Rose sat next to him and glanced towards the front of the class. Al had taken his arm down from around Erin, but he was now holding her hand as he talked to his father.

"Probably because it was," said Rose. "But before you laugh too loudly, think about what it would be like if you were in Al's shoes."

Rose shot him a smirk, but watched in surprise as Scorpius gave a very visible nervous gulp.

"That's going to be a bit terrifying for us," he mumbled, talking mostly to himself. Before Rose was able to peruse the topic further, they were joined by Al and Erin,

"What happened?" Rose whispered as Erin sat next to her while chuckling at a bright red Al.

"His dad asked if they needed to have a refresher on 'the talk'."

Scorpius did his best to smother his laughter and Rose's hand flew to her mouth to try and stop her own giggles.

"You poor thing," said Rose in an attempt at sympathy, looking past Erin and at her cousin, whose face was buried in his arms. He gave an unintelligible grumble and then the class began. Harry went straight into his lecture without even bothering to introduce himself. They all knew who he was anyway.

"The biggest force behind a patronus is happiness. I would even argue that it's more love than anything else. Because in what moments are we truly happiest? When we are doing the things we love, with the people we love, in the places we love. I know you've all gone over the theory of conjuring your patronus so I won't waste your time on that, but your focus today is solidifying that memory. That feeling. I hope you've done your homework and that you've already at least made a start in figuring out what yours will be. So everyone up and let's do this with partners."

Everyone stood and the desks were quickly vanished. Pairs were formed around the room and Rose was surprised to find Scorpius claiming her as a partner. Normally in Defense, Al and Scorpius would pair up, since they were so evenly matched, but Rose guessed that part didn't really matter this time.

"Your partner should be someone who can encourage you in this so I'm actually advising you to pick someone you're close to," Harry hollered from the front of the class as people continued to try and grab partners. Rose smiled up at Scorpius, knowing he was the perfect person for her to partner with.

"Feeling up to the task, Weasley?" he asked with a smirk as they stood a few paces away from and facing each other.

"More than up to it, Malfoy," she replied with a smirk of her own.

The next twenty minutes were spent with them doing their best to vividly recall that memory, focusing on the feelings that came from it, and attempting to cast the spell.

Rose had done her homework to try and figured out which memory she should use. She'd been blessed with a happy childhood and a world free of the pains her parents had faced. There was plenty for her to choose from, but which was the happiest?

She'd settled on this past Christmas, when she and all her cousins and friends had been together, ringing in the day by pummeling each other with snow. It was a moment where she'd truly felt the love she had for all those people, and it always brought a smile to her face. Surely that would be enough.

As they practiced, a few of them managed some wisps of what almost resembled a patronus, with Al's coming out the strongest, before Harry stopped them.

"It does take time so I want you to remember that and not feel discouraged, but I also want you to carefully exam that memory. When I first tried, I thought it could be something as simple as when I first rode a broom or the day I was sorted into Gryffindor, but it has to be more than that. The best and most powerful memories are about the people you love. I finally managed mine when I thought of my parents. I don't even have real solid memories of them, but there was enough there to fuel my patronus. Your memory might not be clear and solid, but it's about the feeling that it compels. It's about how it immediately lifts you and gives you strength. To this day, I still think of my family, though that looks a little different now. So take a few minutes and try and work out if yours is strong enough."

They all resumed their practicing. Rose had been able to produce something right before Harry stopped them, so she believed she was on the right track with her memory. She tried once again, this time focusing more on the feeling of that night and being surrounded by the people she loved and tried again.

" _Expecto Patronum!"_

It was a little stronger that time, but faded quickly.

"Not bad," said Scorpius, an impressed look on his face. They'd been going back and forth so they could watch the other try, and he prepared himself, a look of concentration on his face before his mouth quirked in a slight smile and he cast the spell. It came out much the same as Rose's had, though she noticed it lingered a little longer. Harry had been wandering amongst the students and approached them after seeing Scorpius' latest attempt.

"Your memory, Scorpius," said Harry. "Do you know why it makes you happy?"

Scorpius looked at him in confusion.

"Once you're in the practice of casting your patronus," Harry explained, "you won't have to think as hard, but to get there, sometimes you have to clearly think through not just what makes you happy, but why it makes you happy. Can you do that?"

Scorpius nodded, his face and posture set with determination. He closed his eyes in concentration and Rose waited, watching along with Harry and a few others who were nearby. Finally, a soft smile appeared on Scorpius' face and he opened his eyes, looking directly at Rose before he cast the spell, his voice strong and steady.

Rose had to take a few steps back when the patronus burst out of Scorpius' wand. It slowly began to take shape and grow, until suddenly, Rose was standing face to face with a brightly glowing bear.

It took Rose's breath away with its beauty, its stooped shoulders and giant paws rippling with what would have been lucious brown fur had it been a real bear. She stood in wonder as it seemed to watch her for a few moments before it vanished.

The room was silent and all eyes were on Scorpius, who was staring dumbfounded at the place where his patronus had momentarily stood. He managed to look up at Rose, and she beamed at him, pride overflowing in her as Harry clapped him on the back with a smile of his own.

"Excellent, Scorpius. Really excellent."

No one else had produced a corporeal patronus. Al had gotten close enough for them to tell it was something four-legged, and Rose's had grown steadily stronger, but no one else had done it. Scorpius was in shock. He'd managed to cast his patronus one more time in class, and it had lingered a little longer, even managing to lumber around the room for a moment before it vanished.

* * *

"That was incredible," Rose said as they made their way out of the classroom. "And it was so big! A bear! I can't wait to see what mine will be."

She sounded equal parts awestruck and jealous, and Scorpius couldn't help but feel proud of his accomplishment. He'd known he was on the right track with his memory, but he'd been able to fully take Harry's advice to heart and it had changed everything. His head was in a whirlwind as he tried to wrap his mind around what had just happened.

"I tried doing what Uncle Harry suggested, and I think it will work eventually," Rose continued as they made their way towards Arithmancy. "I just need to focus more."

"You'll get there," he assured her, tempted to ask what her memory had been but not wanting the same question turned on himself. Not yet.

They made their way to the great hall for lunch after a less than engaging Arithmancy lesson, and joined Al and Erin at the Slytherin table.

"How'd you manage to do it?" Erin asked Scorpius as soon as he and Rose sat down across from her and Al. "I barely got anything all day yet you managed to do the real thing. How?"

"Maybe I'm just a happier person than you are, Longbottom," he said with a smirk. Erin scowled at Scorpius as he began piling his plate with food.

"You're probably just overthinking it," Rose assured her. "Relax into it next time."

Erin grunted and returned to her food, most likely fully aware that Rose was right.

"You don't need to be nervous around my dad," Al said in an understanding tone. "You've known him your whole life."

"Doesn't stop you from clamming up every time you see _my_ dad," Erin countered.

"That's different," Al argued, his cheeks turning slightly pink. "Your dad is my godfather and you're his little girl. That's a whole other realm of intimidating."

Erin chuckled but seemed to feel satisfied that she'd made her point as they were joined by a disgruntled Riley Clarke.

"Your cousin is as dimwitted as they come," she grumbled as she slid in next to Scorpius. Not entirely surprised that she was complaining about Corbin, Scorpius glanced around the table, but was surprised when he didn't see him.

"He's over there," she said with a gesture over her shoulder, keeping her attention on the pork she was piling onto her plate while the others began to scan the Great Hall. It was Rose who spotted him first.

"Look," she said, tugging on Scorpius' sleeve before surprisingly pointing towards the Hufflepuff table. Corbin was sitting sideways on on of the benches and talking quite happily with Charlotte Bray, who seemed very pleased with the situation herself. Lucy was sitting across from them with a book in her hands, but Scorpius caught her glancing up at them almost in concern while she continued to feign indifference.

"I wondered about that," said Erin, drawing everyone's attention away from the younger pair. "They were rather friendly over the holiday."

"It's probably nothing," Scorpius said with a shrug. "He's always chatting up someone."

"Never seen him chat up a Hufflepuff," Riley grumbled, shoving a fork full of mashed potatoes into her mouth. Scorpius studied her for a moment before he let a smirk grow on his face.

"Are you jealous, Clarke?"

Riley looked up at him with wide eyes as if convinced he was crazy.

"No, of course not. He can do what he likes. It makes no difference to me."

"That sounds convincing," said Al in an undertone, but Riley heard and threw him a scowl.

"Shove off, Potter. You don't know anything about it."

She focused in on her food and they let her be, even though it was obvious to all of them that she was more upset than she was willing to let on.

"Seeing this side of her sort of makes me like her more," Rose leaned in and whispered. Scorpius did his best not to grin, knowing it might not go unnoticed by Riley and realizing she was in a mood that could easily turn into a bit of a rage. She didn't lose her cool very often, but she wouldn't stand for it if she thought you were mocking her.

"Al, can I have a word?"

Everyone looked up to see Al's father standing behind Rose and looking at his son expectantly.

"About?" asked Al, clearly stalling and under the impression that he was about to receive the dreaded "talk" that his father had mentioned earlier.

"It's not about _that_ ," Harry said with a roll of his eyes. "I've just spoken with Neville."

Al turned surprisingly white and Erin didn't look much better. He now seemed even more reluctant to talk to his father.

"Why is it," said Harry, resigned to do this in public as he folded his arms and looked down almost threateningly at his son, "that your godfather hasn't heard a word from either one of you in regards to your relationship?"

Al gave an audible gulp.

"Haven't gotten around to it?" he said weakly. Harry looked unimpressed.

"It's not like you're not allowed to have your own life," said Harry, "but if some boy were to date my daughter right under my nose and not respect me enough or have the guts to at least let me know, I would _not_ be pleased."

"Caleb and Lily were dating for months before they told anyone!" Al said indignantly.

"And when they were ready and able to tell us, they did," Harry countered. "Not that I was perfectly alright with the situation, but at least they did speak up and we didn't have to hear about it from someone else. Neville sees you two carrying on every day, yet neither of you have made an effort to make sure he's in the loop."

The atmosphere was now sufficiently awkward. Scorpius personally thought that Harry might be coming down a little too hard on Al, but then again, Neville _was_ his godfather. That made things complicated.

"I'm not saying you need to ask his permission or anything like that," Harry clarified, "but he loves you both and he cares about your lives. Especially when it involves each other. Just talk to him."

He waited a moment, staring intently at his son, and Al eventually gave a curt nod. The mood was tense and strained as Harry left, and Al kept his attention on his plate, stabbing at a slice of beef with his fork.

"Al, it's not that big a deal," Erin assured him, resting her hand on his back in comfort.

"He's right though," he said in a harsh tone. "I've known this whole time I should at least say something to your dad but I've been too much of a bloody coward."

"Why?" Erin asked. "Your dad's right, my dad loves you almost as much as I do. You have nothing to worry about."

Al's dark mood immediately fell away and he looked at Erin in shock. Realizing what she'd just said, Erin pulled her hand away from Al and it flew to her mouth, her eyes wide and terrified as they searched his. Rose reached out and gripped Scorpius' arm that was resting on the table as she looked back and forth between her best friend and her cousin. Riley gave a quiet snort of laughter from her seat next to Scorpius.

"This'll be good," she mumbled, and Scorpius quickly shushed her. Al was very much in danger of handling this poorly.

"You do?" Al finally choked out. Erin just continued to watch him for a moment, her hand still covering her mouth before her stiff posture relaxed and she let her arm fall to her side. She nodded. Scorpius didn't think he'd ever seen Al smile quite so brightly as he did then.

"Brilliant," he said with a grin, and then he went back to his food. Erin looked positively beside herself with vexation.

"That's it?" she asked. "Brilliant?"

Al shrugged, his face still full of joy.

"I can't say it back if you didn't even say it in the first place."

Erin let out a sound of indignation, crossing her arms before giving Al a hard stare. He simply smiled at her.

"But I admitted it," she argued.

"Fine, I admit it too."

Erin just stared at him wide eyed before assuming a cool indifference and turning back to her meal.

"Fine."

Scorpius rolled his eyes, knowing they'd now have to wait for one of them to break. He looked at Rose, who'd released her hold on his arm but had scooted in closer to him.

"Any bets on who breaks first?" she asked in a whisper, nodding towards the couple in a standstill.

"Al for sure," he said, noticing that, though he'd gone back to his meal, Al continued to throw sidelong glances at Erin, who was doing a marvelous job of ignoring him.

"Any bets on when?" asked Rose, not even disagreeing with him. Scorpius chuckled.

"Any minute now."

They watched surreptitiously as Al eventually lost complete interest in his food. He stared sideways at Erin, fiddling with his fork as he seemed to mull over his options. Finally, he turned back to his food.

"Want to go see your dad tomorrow?" he asked indifferently. "Tell him how much we love each other?"

Erin, who had her head held high as she took a sip of her pumpkin juice, dropped a bit of her icy exterior and glanced at Al. She lowered her glass and assumed the same disinterested attitude as her boyfriend.

"Fine."

Neither of them looked at each other as they continued to eat. Scorpius shook his head and returned his attention to his own meal, knowing Rose was rolling her eyes as she sighed beside him.

"Do you have plans for the weekend?" Rose asked Scorpius, obviously fed up with her cousin and best friend's antics, "or is it all homework and Quidditch?"

She looked at him questioningly, and Scorpius wished this moment wasn't happening in front of other people, but it would have to do seeing as he wasn't keen on missing an opportunity.

"Actually, I-"

"Bloody Hell, do they care at all that we're watching?" Riley said in disgust, and Rose and Scorpius' attention was drawn back to their best friend's, who'd someone ended up in a rather passionate embrace.

"Good God," Scorpius said with a roll of his eyes before picking up a roll and chucking it at Al's head. He reluctantly pulled himself away from Erin and shot an expectant look at Scorpius.

"Do you mind?" said Scorpius pointedly. "We're eating."

"Piss off, we're in love."

But Erin extracted herself from Al's embrace, her face bright red as she chugged more of her pumpkin juice.

"As happy as we are for you both," said Rose,

"must you be so…"

She trailed off, frustrated with herself that she couldn't come up with the appropriate word.

"In other words, keep it in your pants," Riley said with a look of disgust.

Erin buried her face in her hands with an embarrassed groan, but Al just smirked at Riley as she stood from the table.

"Careful with that jealousy, Clarke. It's showing again."

Riley gave Al one last look of disgust before turning and walking away.

"I really do think we should go talk to your dad," Al told Erin sincerely. "Tomorrow after lunch?"

She nodded and smiled as she looked up at Al, kissing him on the cheek before turning and striking up a conversation with Rose, a very pleased smile on her face.

It continued to amaze Scorpius how maturely Al and Erin were handling their relationship. Obviously they'd have their childish moments, but he'd expected a lot more fights and blow ups than there'd been, although they still had the occasional tussle. It made him realize how true the rather roundabout confessions they'd just made to each other were. If he wasn't mistaken, neither of them were likely to have much trouble casting a patronus next time around.

Scorpius watched Rose as she and Erin talked about what else they'd get up to that weekend. He'd been happy with how things had gone over Easter break, and he was eager to continue pursuing whatever was ahead for him and Rose, especially after the revelation he'd had during Defense. It had been frustrating that they'd hardly had any time together since they'd been back, even though they shared a common room and spent most of their time together. But with N.E.W.T.s coming up and both of them in extra classes, Rose had been very focused on their studies, so he was pleased to hear her tell Erin that she wanted to take it easy over the weekend as far as revising went.

"We've got training tomorrow morning," Al reminded Scorpius as he and Erin started to stand. Scorpius nodded and he and Rose stood to join them and make their way towards Potions. Seeing his opening, Scorpius started to follow but grabbed Rose by the arm to hold her back so they were walking a good distance behind Al and Erin. She looked up at him in question as they made their way out of the Great Hall.

"If you're not spending the whole time buried in books, what exactly are your plans for the weekend?" he asked as they slowly strolled towards the dungeons amongst the crowd of students heading to their classes after lunch.

"I was thinking about checking in with Hugo," she said. "He's seemed a little off since we got back and I'm worried about him."

Scorpius nodded, remembering the conversation he'd had with Hugo over break. For the most part, he'd been his usual self since then, but even Scorpius could tell that he was moodier than usual.

"That's about it, though. Why?"

"Well," he started slowly, "how would you feel about doing an actual date this weekend?"

He was surprised how easy it had been to ask the question, and while there were still nerves present, he felt nothing but excitement as he asked it.

"To Hogsmeade?" she asked with a smile.

Scorpius gave a noncommittal shrug. "I've got a plan," he said mysteriously. Rose looked at him in surprise.

"Really? You've been doing an awful lot of planning lately."

"If you'd like, I'll let you plan to next one," he said with a smirk, and Rose laughed joyfully as they reached the dungeons. He stopped just outside their classroom and she did the same.

"Saturday? Dinner?"

She nodded, glancing around to see they were the last two in the corridor before lifting up onto her toes and kissing him quickly on the cheek.

"It's a date," she said with a wink. Scorpius grinned after her as she walked into the classroom, hoping that, if things went well the following night, everything between himself and Rose would change.

* * *

 **A/N: Just a little treat to get you through the midway point of the week! And to make up for the very long wait you had on the last chapter. I'm very excited about the next one :) Any ideas as to what'll happen? Thanks as always for your reviews! You're all the best.**


	44. Sooner or later it comes down to faith

Rose woke up on Saturday morning feeling positively giddy. She was actually surprised that she'd managed to get a good night's sleep since she'd been unable to think about anything other than what the following evening would hold. But she felt refreshed and ready to take on the day as she showered and dressed in jeans and a jumper.

The first part of her day was going to be spent with her brother. She'd caught up with Hugo at dinner the night before and he'd merely given an indifferent shrug when she'd asked if he was free to spend some time with her. Knowing that was as good of a response as she was going to get, she told him she'd meet him in the Gryffindor common room after breakfast.

Hugo was actually an unnaturally early riser, so she knew he would have already been down for breakfast by the time she was up. Rose left her dorm around half past eight to head to the Great Hall, noting that Scorpius' door was closed and he was most likely still sleeping.

After grabbing a quick breakfast, she headed up to her old common room, realizing that she hadn't really spent any time there all school year. She had been expecting to, with Erin and her brother and cousins, but most of her time with them had been spent in the joint common room or her own.

The Gryffindor common room was mostly empty, only a few early risers and one student who looked like he'd fallen asleep on the couch the night before. Noting her brother wasn't among them, she headed towards the stairs that led to the boys' dormitories, stopping when she reached the door that said it belonged to the fifth years. The sound of snoring reached her ears as she pushed it open. Most of the beds had their curtains pulled shut, though one boy that Rose recognized as Patrick Allen's younger brother had failed to close his and was sprawled out above his covers, dressed only in his pants.

Making her way through the mess that covered most of the floor, Rose approached the bed that had Hugo's trunk sitting open at the end of it. She accidently kicked something as she crossed the room, and Hugo stuck his head out at the noise. He rolled his eyes when he spotted his sister and pulled the curtains slightly open. Rose sat down on his bed when she reached him, waiting for him to finish casting Muffliato before speaking.

"Why're you up here?" she asked, taking in the jeans and jumper that he wore.

"It's quiet," he said with a shrug. "I was just doing some homework."

Rose's brow arched in surprise, but she realized that a few books and some parchment were lying on his bed.

"Alright," she said, deciding to treat his behavior as normal. "Want to wander around the castle and find a deserted classroom to play some chess in? I might even let you bring your homework incase you get bored."

Hugo rolled his eyes at her teasing smirk, but agreed, standing and grabbing his chess set from under his bed before leading her out of the room.

They wandered around the castle in comfortable silence until they found a small classroom on the fourth floor. It looked like it was only being used to store some of the old cushions that students used to sit on for Divination. Rose cast some cleaning spells to rid them of dust before they each claimed one while Hugo placed the board on the floor between them, setting up himself as black and Rose as white.

"I've always wondered why you preferred black," Rose said as she took her first move. Hugo shrugged as he made his.

"I guess I prefer reacting to my opponent rather than setting the pace."

"Really?" said Rose, intrigued by his reasoning. "I'm pretty sure Dad does the opposite."

"Which is why," Hugo said, taking one of Rose's pawns after she moved it into the path of his knight, "he and I are now evenly matched."

Rose chuckled at the proud smirk he wore and they played in silence for awhile.

"You going to tell me why you wanted to spend some time alone with me?" Hugo eventually asked.

In all honesty, Rose hadn't really thought through her reasoning behind wanting to spend some one-on-one time with her brother, other than the fact that he just seemed off. She shrugged as she contemplated how to get her queen out of the tough spot she was in.

"A lot of reasons, I suppose," said Rose. "I feel like I've hardly seen you all year and it's our last one together. I don't want that to go to waste."

Hugo nodded. "What else?"

"You've seemed kind of down lately," she said honestly. "And I know how hard it is when your best friends start pairing off without you."

Hugo didn't show that he'd heard her at all, and she thought for a moment that maybe he hadn't been listening, but he spoke up a few moves later.

"It's not like I want to do the same," he clarified. "I just thought we had a bit more time before all of that started happening. And you know how Lily is. She's completely caught up in it. Not that she ignores me on purpose, but if she can spend time with Caleb, she doesn't even stop to think how it might affect everyone else if she breaks plans to run off with him. Lou's come around to everything now but he's a little frustrated too."

Rose remembered clearly the moment Lily and Caleb had told Louis they were together during the train ride back to Hogwarts after Easter. Surprisingly, Louis had responded very poorly and stormed off. Caleb had gone after him, and Lily had later explained to Rose that Louis was more upset that he was just about the last to know that his best friend was dating his cousin than that they were dating at all. He'd eventually cooled off, realizing how nervous Caleb had been to tell him, merely threatening bodily harm if he hurt her just as every other male member of her family had done, before things seemed to return to normal. Apparently, the return to normal hadn't exactly happened.

"Things between Bobby and Luce are pretty much the same but they've been spending even more time together and everyone knows they're going to make a go of it eventually," Hugo continued, "and now even Lot's hanging out with Zabini. Everything's just different."

"At least you've got Louis," she said optimistically.

"Yeah but we just complain to each other about our best friends right now," said Hugo, successfully taking her queen. "He's not exactly a joy to be around."

Rose sighed, resigning herself to defeat as she tried to move her king out of harm's way.

"Have you tried talking to them?" she asked.

"It's not a big deal, Rose. I don't want to make it one."

"But it sort of is," she reasoned. "Lily probably doesn't even realize what she's doing but she should."

Hugo didn't say anything, and they were both silent until he managed a checkmate and made to reset the game automatically.

"So," Hugo said a few moves in. "You and Scorpius?"

Rose felt her cheeks grow warm at her brother's knowing smirk.

"We don't have to talk about that right now."

"Rose, I'm fine," he said with a roll of his eyes. "I told you I'm not envious of all the romance. And I do care about what goes on in your life."

Rose smiled at him, thankful that he was actually rather mature for his age. They'd always gotten along well, especially once they reached Hogwarts age, and she was pleased that hadn't changed.

"We're actually going on our first date tonight," she said with a barely suppressed smile.

Hugo's brow rose in mild surprise at this news. "I thought you already did that over Easter?"

"That was only a 'sort of' date," she clarified, realizing that word had seemed to travel about their day spent in town. She chuckled when Hugo looked at her sceptically. "There was no pressure for it to be anything more than the two of us spending time together."

"But tonight's different?" Hugo clarified. Rose nodded.

"I think so. He's made some type of plan but I'm not sure what it is. I'm trying not to think about it too much so I don't get too nervous," she said with a chuckle.

Hugo moved one of his pieces before looking up at her curiously.

"You really like him, don't you?"

She wasn't sure if it was rhetorical or if he was asking an actual question. Either way, she nodded.

"So long as he doesn't hurt you," Hugo said, returning his attention to the board. Rose bit back a smile at his protective tone.

"I think he's well aware that there's an entire army of male relatives that will come after him if he does. But I have a feeling he won't."

They were silent for a few minutes before Hugo braved another question.

"How long have you felt this way about him?"

Rose looked at her brother in amused curiosity, but his attention was focused on the board. Hugo was a bit of a wild card. There were times where he'd rather do anything other than talk about feelings, whether they were his own or someone else's. But sometimes he'd surprise Rose, like right now.

"I don't really know for sure," she said. "I guess it started changing for me towards the end of last school year, but it came on pretty gradually and I think I was in denial for longer than I'd care to admit."

Rose fully expected him to tease or laugh at her, but he merely nodded, his expression contemplative as he put her king in check.

"Was it weird?"

"Which part?" Rose asked in confusion.

"All of it, I suppose," he said with a shrug. "It's different with Caleb and Lily since they weren't as close as you and Scor. And Bobby and Lucy have always been inevitable so it'll probably just happen one day and nothing will really change. Just like Rox and Lor. And I don't even want to get into the mess that was Al and Erin."

Rose chuckled and Hugo grinned in amusement before turning serious again.

"But you and Scor are best friends. That's got to feel weird sometimes."

"I think it would be weirder if we'd grown up friends," Rose said, "like James and Violet. And I don't think they had any issues transitioning once they actually worked things out."

"So it feels pretty natural?"

"It definitely doesn't feel unnatural, that's for sure."

She smirked at her brother and a look of discomfort crossed his features.

"I'd actually rather not know that. Forget I asked."

Rose laughed. "I guess I can't even fully answer that question yet because we haven't even officially been on a date, but it hasn't felt wrong so far."

Hugo nodded, his mind immersed in his thoughts and his eyes focused on the board.

"Who knows, though," she continued, her mind once again caught up in what her evening would hold, the first doubts starting to creep in. "It might go terribly and he might realize that it's a mistake."

"You're joking, right?" Hugo asked.

"Well, he hasn't actually told me how he feels yet," she reasoned. "It might just be that he thinks it's worth a shot and that it could go either way."

Hugo let out a snort, shaking his head as he looked down at the chessboard, but he didn't comment further.

"Hugh, why are you asking in the first place?" Rose couldn't help inquiring.

He let out a sigh as Rose managed to check his king, most likely thanks to how distracted he was by the conversation.

"Just curious, I suppose."

Rose had a strong feeling there was more to it than that, but let it slide. He'd probably opened up just about as much as he was able to already.

"What odds do you think the Cannons have of making the finals this year?"

Hugo eagerly jumped on the change of topic, and they spent the next hour talking about much more light hearted topics while Rose continued to be thoroughly beaten at chess. Hugo then pulled out a deck of exploding snaps and they ended up playing till it was time for lunch.

As they were walking towards the Great Hall, Hugo with his chessboard tucked under his arm and his attitude brighter, Rose couldn't help taking advantage of their last few moments together.

"I hope you'll think about talking to Lily," she said, and was pleased to see that Hugo's mood wasn't drastically affected by her words.

"I'll consider it," he said. "But I won't go out of my way."

Rose nodded, not expecting much different from her rather stubborn brother. He wasn't afraid to pitch a fit, but knew there was a difference between getting in a tiff about where you went to dinner and making a scene because of how your friends handled their relationships.

"And I hope you have fun tonight," he said. "He's a good bloke so don't break his heart or anything."

Rose laughed in surprise as they reached the entrance hall. "I doubt I could do that."

"I wouldn't put it past you," he said with a smirk.

"Hugh!" Rose said indignantly. "I'm not going to break his heart."

"I didn't say you would," he said with a chuckle. "I merely said you could. He's definitely far gone enough for that to happen."

Rose was shocked into silence. She'd been so caught up in the extent of her feelings for Scorpius, she'd been unable to gauge just how much he cared for her. She knew he did, that much was obvious. But was his heart really so involved that she could break it? The thought equally terrified and thrilled her. Her brother merely chuckled at her as she failed to come up with a response. He stopped at the entrance to the Great Hall, the sound of their classmates eating lunch flowing out through the double doors.

"Don't be nervous," he said with a mischievous grin. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

Rose scowled at her brother, knowing he was just trying to get into her head.

"Stop being a prat about this."

"I thought you'd be pleased to know how much he fancies you?" he said in mock surprise.

"Stop getting my hopes up!" she said with an indignant laugh, giving him a punch in the arm for good measure. Hugo barely flinched as he laughed at her.

"Stop doubting him," Hugo said with a pointed look, "and have a little faith, Rosie."

He walked into the Great Hall, leaving Rose to follow after him, knocked slightly off balance by his insight and words of wisdom. Maybe Hugo was right. She'd spent enough time doubting Scorpius and herself and everything. As she moved to join Hugo at the Gryffindor table with Bobby and Lucy, Rose determined to do just as Hugo suggested, and have some faith.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon seemed to drag on, but it also didn't seem to be long enough. Faster than she'd anticipated, Rose found herself standing in front of her bathroom mirror with only five minutes to go before she had to meet Scorpius in the common room.

She hadn't seen him all day and had spent most of her time after lunch reading and even giving in and doing a bit of homework. Al and Erin had stuck to their plans to go see her dad and had been made aware that Rose and Scorpius had plans for the evening. Rose hadn't told them, so she could only assume Scorpius had. They'd both given her knowing looks when she saw them at lunch, telling her to have a fun night before they left.

Scorpius had shown up in the common room around five o'clock, with his cheeks red and his hair windswept. He smiled when he saw her sitting on the couch with a book in her lap, simply telling her to be ready in an hour and to bundle up before disappearing into his dorm.

Rose was now dressed in jeans with thick socks and boots on her feet. She wore a jumper and her rain jacket, since it had been rather dreary all day and would most likely be a chilly evening. As it reached six o'clock and she heard Scorpius come out of his room, she took a deep calming breath before grabbing her wand and a knit cap and heading into the common room.

Scorpius was just as bundled up as she was and already had a hat on. He smiled when he saw her, his hands shoved into his pockets and the ends of his hair sticking out of his knit cap.

"Am I bundled enough?" she asked. He scrutinized her for a moment, taking in her appearance. Rose even felt bold enough to do a little turn so he could take her in fully. He chuckled when she stopped and faced him.

"You're perfect," he said with a smile. "Shall we?"

He opened the portrait hole and gestured her forward. Rose pulled on her hat as she entered the corridor. It was early April but still very cool in the evenings. She started to wonder if she actually _was_ bundled enough.

"So what's the plan?" she asked as they began to make their way through the castle. "Are we going fishing in the black lake?"

He laughed, shaking his head in amusement.

"Nope. No fishing. Although we could try that sometime if you're eager to."

"No," she assured him with a chuckle. "I'm a little too afraid of the giant squid."

He smiled down at her and his joy was infectious. All of Rose's nerves and insecurities started to dissolve, and she confidently reached out and slid her hand into his as it hung between them. If possible, his smile brightened and he squeezed her hand before slipping his fingers between hers.

"How'd it go with Hugo?" he asked.

They made it to the entrance hall while Rose recounted her morning with her brother, though leaving out most of the bits where they talked about Scorpius. But she couldn't help making one comment. Just to test the waters.

"Hugo seems to think you're quite taken with me," she said teasingly, even though her heart was beating fiercely in anticipation. Her nerves seemed pointless a moment later when he smiled down at her as they reached the entrance hall.

"He's a smart kid."

Rose knew it was a little ridiculous how giddy she was, but she didn't care. It had taken them so long to get to where they were, and she was fully planning on enjoying every moment of it. She gripped his hand tighter for a moment as they made their way through the crowd of students going into dinner, not caring at all that people were watching as they headed out through the oak front doors.

It wasn't raining, but the sky's looked tempted to. It was slightly warmer than Rose had expected, and she was thankful she hadn't thrown on the extra sweatshirt she'd considered wearing. She let Scorpius lead them down the path that led to Hogsmeade, and it wasn't until he veered off towards the forest that she considered he had really did have plans that had nothing to do with the village.

"Planning on getting us lost in the woods?" she asked with a nervous chuckle as he pulled her along behind him. He turned back to look at her and pulled her closer before he dropped her hand. Rose only had a moment to feel disappointed before he draped his arm around her shoulders.

"Of course not," he assured her. "Just thought we'd do something a little different than last time."

"You mean different than our 'sort of' date?" Rose asked with a smirk, wrapping her own arm around his waist.

" _Much_ different," he said with a joyful smile.

"It's been awhile since I've seen you like this," she couldn't help but comment as they drew closer to the line of trees. He looked at her questioningly.

"This happy," she clarified. "Care free. It's nice to have the old you back."

Scorpius smiled softly down at her, and Rose was sure her heart literally skipped a beat as the warmth from his eyes bore into her.

"It's nice to be back," he said. "I'm sorry everything happened, but at the same time, I'm not."

It was Rose's turn to look at him in question and he let out a sigh before he continued.

"I know we would have gotten here eventually. At least, I'd hoped we would. But if anything, everything that happened this year makes me appreciate it even more than I probably would have before."

"Sort of like it makes everything that happened worth it if this is where we ended up. It means more," she said in understanding. Scorpius nodded, his face still contemplative.

"Of course, I wish I hadn't made a lot of the stupid mistakes I did or let my doubts and insecurities get the better of me, but I like to think it made me stronger in the end."

"I know it did," Rose assured him. As they reached the edge of the trees, Scorpius led them down a narrow path into the outer edge of the forest that Rose hadn't seen until it was right in front of them.

Their conversation had brought the one she'd had with Professor McGonagall the day they left to come home for Christmas into the forefront of Rose's mind. They'd never talked about it. Had the Headmistress even told Scorpius what she'd said? The night they got back after Christmas had been filled with distractions, and Rose realized they hadn't even talked about _his_ conversation with McGonagall.

They walked in silence for a few moments as Rose rolled this over in her mind, and she was so lost in her thoughts that it came as a bit of a shock when he suddenly stopped them in their tracks.

They'd reached a small clearing with tall trees growing all around the outside, completely hiding it away. The grass was bright green from the first spring rains, and a few flowers had even started to pop up in places. But Rose's eyes were drawn to the far side of the clearing where a tarp was hung from one of the trees like a tent. There was a blanket spread under it with cushions and a basket. It was the perfect set up, and he'd even thought to provide cover in case it rained.

Scorpius was watching her nervously, waiting for her reaction. She pulled away and grabbed his hand as it fell off her shoulders, smiling as she pulled him across the clearing, jogging to get to their destination.

"I take it you're a fan?" he said with a chuckle as Rose plopped down on one of the cushions. She smiled up at him as he stood over her, obviously delighted that his plan was going well so far.

He joined her on the blanket, claiming his own cushion as he began to pull food out of the basket.

"Where'd you get all this?" she asked, staring up at the tarp that was hanging above them.

"You know I'm a wizard, right?" he teased. Rose rolled her eyes and repeated her desire to know.

"Al helped me transfigure some pillows and enlarge one of the comforters," he explained. "I got the basket from the House Elves along with the food and the tarp is my old raincoat, transfigured of course. I outgrew it awhile ago but never took it out of my trunk."

Rose nodded, impressed by his handiwork. It was then that she noticed a blanket folded up behind the cushion Scorpius sat on, and she smiled to see it was the one she'd made and given to him for Christmas.

"Would you prefer chicken or beef?" he asked, pulling out containers and opening them to reveal some sandwiches. "Sorry it's not finer dining."

"No, it's perfect," she assured him. "And chicken."

He handed over one of the containers and kept the other for himself before pulling out another container filled with grapes. Next came some slices of cheese and some crisps and bottles of pumpkin juice.

"Wow, you really prepared," she said, taking in the feast he'd brought.

"I can't take all the credit," he assured her, starting in on one of his sandwiches. "I only asked for the sandwiches and some fruit. The House Elves insisted on the rest."

Rose chuckled, picturing the eager to please creatures as she started in on her own dinner, grateful that she hadn't been the one to have to deal with them.

Their conversation was light as they ate and the sun started to set, and Rose was relieved that it all felt so comfortable. Her nerves would spring up every now and then if she started to overthink things, but she was mostly very much at ease sitting under the tarp with Scorpius.

Soon they were finished with their dinner and laughing at a story Scorpius was telling about his first year at Hogwarts when he and Al had accidentally started a fire in an empty classroom while experimenting with some of George's joke products.

"That's why Al didn't have eyebrows for a month?" asked Rose, astonished and delighted to finally have this mystery solved.

"They wouldn't grow them back for him," Scorpius said in amusement. "Said it was part of his punishment."

Rose was laughing heartily, remembering an eleven year old Albus doing his best to make his hair lie flat over his forehead during that time.

"Merlin, that's hilarious," said Rose. Scorpius started packing away the leftover food, and Rose took advantage of the now free space to stretch out on her stomach, facing the open clearing and propping herself up on her elbows. Scorpius moved the basket out of the way and stretched out next to her, but on his back. It had started to rain ever so slightly, and Rose would have been able to catch drops on her hand if she stretched it out in front of her, but the tarp was keeping them dry.

They were quiet for a moment and Rose took in the sound of the water hitting the tarp and the calls of the birds that were brave enough to be out.

"Do you remember Halloween?" Scorpius said eventually, his tone hesitant. Rose looked down at him. He'd taken his hat off and his hair was ruffled as he looked up at the tarp.

"You mean the part where Patrick Allen kissed me and you had a fit about it?"

Her question got the reaction she was expecting, and he turned his head to look up at her in shock, only to find her giving him a teasing smirk.

"I more meant the stuff that came after that," he said in mock annoyance. His expression turned somber a moment later and his eyes left hers.

"I knew what you wanted to say that night. At least, I think I did. If I hadn't stopped you, I probably would have said the same things back."

He wasn't looking at her, and Rose could tell he was nervous. She was as well. She'd been wanting to have this conversation since he'd stopped her on Halloween.

"Why _did_ you stop me?" she asked quietly. He gave as much of a shrug as he could from his position on his back.

"I didn't think we were ready. I know I wasn't. And I proved that to both of us."

He turned and looked at her again, his eyes honest and vulnerable. "I wanted it to be as easy as you telling me how you felt and me doing the same, but it would have turned into a damn mess after that."

"Who's to say you would have made the same choices if we'd been honest with each other then?" she argued.

"My head was such a mess back then I doubt it would've made a difference," he insisted. "Besides, I'd rather not get caught up in the 'what ifs' of it all."

Rose had to agree with that. Thinking about what could have been different if they'd made different choices didn't do any good.

"As stupid as it might sound," he continued."I wanted it to be perfect. I didn't want there to be anything else hanging over us and you've got to admit, that's the way it's been most of the year."

"That's not stupid," she assured him. "But things are never going to be perfect. And things have been fine since we got back from Christmas, right? Why wait till Easter?"

He let out a sigh. "Honestly? I was afraid that you'd changed your mind."

Rose was so caught off guard by this answer that she quickly sat up, looking down at him incredulously.

"I'm pretty sure I dropped plenty of not so subtle hints multiple times."

"Maybe, but I've been a little pessimistic lately."

He said it with a bit of a smirk, and Rose rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Besides," he continued, growing serious and pushing himself up, resting back on his hands so he could look her in the eye, "I caught on eventually. It just took me awhile because I knew I'd disappointed you and as much as you care about me and as much as I know that I can always count on you, it made me question whether or not you'd still have faith in me to be there for you. The way I should have been all year. The way I wanted to be, but I let all my doubts and insecurities win out."

Looking into his eyes that were looking hesitantly into hers, it started making more sense to Rose. She saw the last few months more clearly. Erin had been right. She'd focused so much on the problems, she'd forgotten to reassure him of the truth.

"And then I was worried you wouldn't take it well that I decided to be an Auror," he continued before she could speak up. "I guess that was me doubting you, but I thought it would be the tipping point. That whatever you might have felt for me at one point wouldn't be worth trying to hold onto anymore because it would just all be too hard. After that night when I told you, I was fairly certain you still cared for me, but I needed to be sure, and something still felt off. I was pretty certain I knew how you felt not long after, but that's also when I realized you might not trust me yet. I knew that it would never work if you didn't."

Rose let out a sigh, pulling off her hat before running a hand through her hair.

"Do you still think I don't trust you?" she asked.

"No," said Scorpius. "I don't think that at all."

Rose let out a sigh once again, turning so she was facing him with her legs criss crossed.

"We sort of created a mess for ourselves, didn't we?" she said, smiling though her voice lacked humor.

He didn't disagree, merely smiled sadly at her. He still seemed a little unsure of everything. Had she really not been as supportive and encouraging as she'd thought?

"I'm done being scared, though," he told her confidently, "if you couldn't tell."

Rose smiled at him tenderly, knowing it was her turn to stop being scared. He'd been so honest, and she could do the same.

"Scorpius, I never lost faith in you," said Rose, her voice filled with sincerity. "I realize I might not have made that very clear. I might not have made a lot of things clear. But Scorp, I thought I was being embarrassingly obvious."

"About what?" he asked quietly.

"Everything," said Rose. "How I feel about you and how much I want to be with you. How much it meant to me that we were Heads together and how much I knew you deserved it. I know you messed up but I never thought you didn't deserve your badge. When I met with McGonagall the morning after you got caught, I was terrified that she'd think you weren't cut out for it anymore, but I always knew you were. Scorpius, you're kind and loyal and just and selfless and you deserve everything you've ever earned. We all make mistakes and we all second guess ourselves, but at least you never stopped trying to figure out who you are. They bring us here to educate us and to help us become the witches and wizards we were meant to be, and punishing someone that harshly for one moment of poor judgment would be a sorry way to treat someone who's done his best to learn everything he can in order to be the best version of himself. And I made sure McGonagall knew that it would be a poor judge of character on her part if she lost faith in you."

She paused to catch her breath, Scorpius staring at her blankly. Rose desperately wanted to know what he was thinking, but she was on a roll, and she'd been wanting to say all of this for a long time.

"And I'm so proud of you for wanting to be an Auror. You're going to be brilliant at it and I never doubted that. I just have my own baggage that goes along with it. That's why I've always been so vocal about how terrifying it is. I had to watch my dad lying unconscious in a hospital when I was little, wondering if he'd ever wake up. Yes, it terrifies me to think that could be you someday, but I _do_ trust you. And I'd rather be scared to lose you than be without you."

At some point, her eyes had started to water and she realized she was tempted to cry. It wasn't out of sorrow or anger or even joy. It was just all so much. To look him in the eye and tell him all of that and to hold nothing back. It was overwhelming, but not a single part of her wanted to take back a word.

Scorpius' face was a mask of shock. It was hard for Rose to tell what else he was thinking. Slowly, he sat up fully so he was facing her and mirroring her position. His eyes held hers captive, their warmth and innocence present despite their icy color.

"Did you really say all that to McGonagall?"

Rose let out a surprised puff of laughter.

"That's your one question?"

"That's my first question," he clarified with a slight smile. Rose returned it.

"Yes, I did. I was worried you'd be upset and think that me standing up for you was out of pity or something so I didn't tell you. I realize now that it might have been a good thing for you to know."

His lips almost twitched into a smile again, and Rose knew she was right.

"I'm sorry I focused so much on the negative aspects of everything back then," she continued. "I should have been more supportive and encouraging and told you I was proud of you and believed in you. I guess I thought you knew all of that but it just goes to show that there are certain things that don't go without saying."

"I'll admit it would've been nice to hear all this back then, but you were more supportive than you might think," he said, reaching out and grabbing one of her hands. She hadn't realized she'd been tugging at a thread on the blanket between them until she let it fall from her fingers and he slid his own between them. "But I get why you kept quiet about all that. I was being rather pessimistic so I might not have fully believed you anyways."

Rose squeezed his hand, reaching out to link their other ones together as well.

"And I did pick up on the hints," he clarified, his expression growing more joyful. "But like I said, I wanted the timing to be right. And I didn't know that about your dad."

Rose shrugged. "It's alright. It was a long time ago, but it was hard to watch my mum every time he went out on a mission after that."

He nodded in understanding and looked like he was about to say something else, but the sound of thunder interrupted him.

"Maybe we should head back," he said regretfully, glancing out at the darkening sky. Rose nodded in reluctant agreement, and by the time they had everything packed up, it was a torrential downpour. Rose couldn't help laughing as he grabbed her hand and pulled her behind him as they ran back up to the castle, tarps and blankets and cushions under their arms.

The Great Hall was empty when they reached the castle, and Rose realized they'd been out there longer than she'd thought. Their hands still clasped together, Scorpius led them up to the seventh floor. It wasn't until they were in their common room that he pulled out his wand and performed drying and warming charms on both of them. Rose sighed in relief, having failed to notice before then that she'd been shivering.

After drying out the wet blankets and cushions, Scorpius collapsed on the couch with a sigh, bringing the blanket she made with him and resting his arm on the back of the couch. The spot next to him looking incredibly inviting. It only took Rose one moment of practiced hesitation to sit next to him. She kicked her shoes off and snuggled into his side, pulling her feet up onto the couch and her knees up to her chest as he threw the blanket over both of them.

They sat there in silence for a few moments, staring at the fire. Eventually, Rose rested her head on his shoulder and let out a sigh of contentment when his hand started playing with the ends of her hair.

"I want the same things, you know," Scorpius eventually said in a quiet tone.

"What things are those?" asked Rose, still gazing intently into the fire.

"Well, I'm pretty certain you said you wanted to be with me, or did I dream that?"

Rose laughed, lifting her head off his shoulder so she could turn and face him. Feeling boldend by the fact that she now knew for sure that they wanted the same thing, she swung her legs over his lap, her knees up and her feet planted in the cushions with the blanket draped over them.

"No, I'm afraid you didn't," she said with a smile. He beamed back at her and his hand came to rest on her knee. Rose was practically bursting.

"It feels strange that there are so many things we still haven't said, but it almost feels like they don't need to be said anymore," said Rose.

"Well, what kind of things?" he asked, smiling so sweetly at her that Rose had to indulge him.

"Like telling you how much and for how long I've fancied you, if that's even a strong enough word."

Scorpius' gaze was so warm and tender it took her breath away. He reached up to lightly stroke her cheek, and Rose let out a shaky breath.

"Do you want to know what memory I used for my patronus?"

The question surprised Rose, but she nodded eagerly, her heart racing as his hand cupped her cheek.

"Do you remember when we were dancing at Teddy and Victoire's wedding?"

She nodded again.

"We talked about everything that had happened and I was feeling sorry for myself and shouldering all the blame. But then you told me that the way I handled everything showed you who I was as a person, and I knew, in spite of everything, that you were proud of me. I didn't fully realize it then, but that was the moment I knew for sure just how much you meant to me. I almost said something, if you remember."

She did remember. They'd gotten distracted by the drama with Alice's ex and he'd never finished what he'd been about to say.

"I knew the memory made me happy, but it wasn't until Harry asked me to think about why that I figured it out. It's because even though I didn't realize it in the moment, the person I cared about the most in the world was showing me that no matter what mistakes I'd made, they still believed in me. And they'd _continue_ believe in me. And I wish I'd seen it then."

Rose wanted to cry. His eyes were shining once again with the same unidentifiable emotion she'd seen months ago in the exact same moment he was talking about now. And as his thumb stroked along her cheek and his fingers moved back into her hair, she realized what it was.

"You've never given up on me, have you?" said Scorpius, his voice a whisper and sure of the answer to his question. A small and disbelieving laugh escaped Rose, and she rested her small hand on his warm chest.

"Of course not," was her quiet response, her voice shaky with emotion. "I could never give up on you."

It was impossible to miss the joy that lit up his every feature, and Rose could only assume that her expression mirrored his. It was hard to feel much of anything other than Scorpius. Her senses were overwhelmed with the closeness of him and all of the truths they'd just bared.

He slowly began to lean in as her breathing sped up and her heart started pounding. He continued to grow closer to her until they were inches apart. She could feel his warm breath on her face and she realized his heart was beating just as fast as hers. She could feel it where her hand was still resting on his chest. It took everything in her to remain calm as she closed her eyes and felt his nose bump up against hers.

"You realize there's no going back after this, yeah?" he said softly, his voice light but his nerves still distinguishable. A giggle escaped her and she took a deep breath in an effort to stop shaking.

"I've been long gone for awhile now," she admitted in an equally soft tone. He let out a sigh, and Rose shivered as his warmth surrounded her and his thumb slowly stroked her cheek once more. A moment later, he ever so gently placed a loving and tender kiss on her lips, so soft that Rose thought for a moment she might be imagining it. But then he did it again, and this time she had the presence of mind to kiss him back. He pulled away after only a few seconds and rested his forehead against hers. Both his hands had come up to cup her face and both of hers were now resting on his strong chest. They just sat there, and Rose drank in the moment, her lips tingling from the feeling of his that they were already missing.

"Blimey," Scorpius breathed quietly, causing Rose to giggle in surprise.

"Yeah, blimey," she said in agreement. He pulled back a bit to look her in the eye and gave her a tender smile.

"I'm so lucky you're mine," he said simply, and Rose felt her heart soar to hear those words. He moved in to kiss her again, and this time with much more conviction. Her arms went around his neck as his went around her waist. Scorpius pulled her closer, if that were possible, her legs still across his lap already doing their part to close the distance between them. He kissed her with so much adoration that it took her breath away. Rose did her best to give as good as she got, but he was doing a fantastic job of rendering her mind completely useless. His lips were soft as they coerced hers into moving against his, firm but not demanding as he seemed to be unable to pull himself away from her.

Rose eventually took it upon herself to break them apart, gasping for breath as she did so.

"Sorry," he said shyly, noticing how out of breath she was and taking a few deep breaths as well.

"It's fine," she assured him when she could manage words. "You're just in a lot better shape than I am."

He chuckled and dropped a kiss on her cheek, and Rose remembered what he'd said right before he'd kissed her a second time.

"So," she said with a teasing look. "I'm yours, huh?"

Scorpius flushed, obviously a bit embarrassed by his rash comment.

"If you want to be," he said, his words honest and humble. "I'm already yours."

Rose knew she was looking at him entirely too sappily, but she didn't care. They'd waited a long time for this moment, and she was going to milk it for all it was worth. She brought her arms down from around his neck and placed her hands on either side of his face.

"When did you get so bloody cheesy?" she asked with a chuckle, leaning forward to drop a light kiss on his lips. He smiled in response.

"That doesn't really answer the question, though," he said with a smirk. He looked at her expectantly, and Rose tried not to let the way his hand was now rubbing circles on the small of her back distract her as she looked into his clear and honest eyes.

"I'd like to make it abundantly clear that you will now find it impossible to get rid of me. You're stuck we me, I'm afraid."

He chuckled at the unapologetic look on her face, his arms tightening around her waist.

"I think I can live with that."

* * *

 **A/N: Too much fluff? I DON'T CARE CAUSE THEY DESERVE IT. Hope you loved reading this as much as I loved writing it. Tell me your thoughts, hopes, wishes, and dreams in the form of a review. You're all the best.**


	45. Better get while the gettin's good

It didn't take long for word to spread that Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy were dating. Not that they were trying to hide it, but they weren't exactly flaunting it either.

"Loads of people saw you walking hand in hand out of the castle," Jill explained when she and Molly cornered them at breakfast on Sunday morning. "It's all anyone talked about at dinner last night."

"It's not all _we_ talked about at dinner," Molly said with a pointed look at her eager best friend, "but the rest of the school was a bit preoccupied."

"Did you expect a different reaction?" Scorpius said to Rose in an undertone. He grinned as she chuckled into her pumpkin juice.

"And how come I didn't know about this?" asked Louis in a grumpy manner. "Am I just the last family member to know everything now?"

"I didn't know till yesterday either, Lou," Molly said in a soothing tone from her seat next to him. "It seems we missed quite a lot with that Easter trip."

Molly didn't seem nearly as ruffled with being out of the loop as Louis was. Rose had explained to Scorpius the day before that both Louis and Hugo were having a bit of a rough time with all of the changing relationships, so he wasn't too surprised by the reaction they received when he and Rose entered the Great Hall that morning. Even though they'd yet to confirm any of the rumors.

"So what happened?" Jill asked, ignoring Louis and his sour mood. "Who finally made the first move? Was last night a date? A first date?"

Jill's questions went unanswered when Scorpius felt someone collide with him a moment later, a slender arm going around his neck in what he assumed was a hug. He did his best not to choke on his breakfast as he caught sight of Lily's beaming face between himself and Rose, who she was also gripping tightly.

"How's my favorite couple?" she said with a giant grin. Scorpius chuckled as he managed to escape Lily's grip.

"Don't let Al and Erin hear you say that."

"So you _are_ a couple?" Jill asked eagerly in response to Scorpius' comment. Rather than answer himself, he looked at Rose expectantly, who was still being gripped tightly by Lily while Caleb watched in amusement. Scorpius grinned as Rose's eyes met his. She smiled back and kept her eyes on him as she answered Jill's question.

"Yes, we're a couple."

Scorpius had to cover his ears when the sound of multiple squeals reverberated around him. He counted himself lucky, though, since Lily was now gripping Rose tighter and squealing in her ear.

"I wish we'd been there over Easter to see this beautiful romance fully blossom," said Jill, resting her chin in her hand with a pout as Lily and Caleb took seats on the other side of Rose.

"Wouldn't have wanted to miss out on your own holiday philanderings, though," Louis grumbled, stabbing a bit forcefully at his sausage. Jill rolled her eyes as she looked past Molly and at the surly sixth year.

"Will you let that go? Just because Marguerite wouldn't give you the time of day doesn't mean I was supposed to ignore Philip."

"Even if he was a sniveling little sneak?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you don't know what all he got up to."

"Lou, you're being ridiculous about this. Can't you just let it go?"

"I'll let it go when you realize how idiotically you behaved."

"Hey!" Molly finally jumped in, giving Louis a good scowl. He and Jill had been leaning across her as they argued, but the latter sat back, stung by Louis' words. Everyone else was watching in curious trepidation.

"There's no need to talk to her like that," Molly snapped at Louis. "She's done nothing wrong."

Louis gave an unintelligible grumble before going back to his food while Jill kept her features cold as she attempted to resume her meal.

"We made some friends over the holiday," Molly said to the table at large, not caring when Jill and Louis looked at her in shock. "Siblings. It didn't exactly make things go smoothly."

"Only because Lou insisted on being a spoilsport," said Jill, her fire coming right back to the surface. "And only because there was _finally_ a girl that didn't fancy him."

She continued to watch him with a challenging stare, and Scorpius, who was fairly certain he knew the extent of Louis' actual feelings for Jill herself, considered this a low blow. But then Jill was completely in the dark, so it wasn't really her fault.

It was painful to watch as Louis turned back to his meal, his face etched with misery.

"That wasn't very nice," Molly whispered to Jill, who merely shrugged indifferently before raising her pumpkin juice to her lip, but her eyes betrayed her concern that she just might have overstepped.

"How're things looking for the Hufflepuff match?" Caleb asked Scorpius, and everyone appeared grateful to have a new topic to focus on. Scorpius had barely begun to answer the question when Al and Erin were heard coming into the Great Hall before they were seen.

"Stay the hell away!" Erin insisted, stopping by the entrance to turn to Al with a scowl. "And stop looking at me like that."

Al looked somewhere between a mix of frustrated and apologetic, so he did his best to school his features to be more passive.

"Can we please talk about this somewhere more private?" he asked placatingly, glancing around at their audience.

"No," she snapped before turning and storming towards the Gryffindor table. Everyone watched cautiously as she made Lily scoot over so she could sit between her and Rose.

"What's going on?" Scorpius heard Rose whisper to Erin as Al sat beside him with a sigh. He looked at his best friend in question, but Al just shook his head, refusing to meet Scorpius' eyes. Silence reigned at the table as Erin refused to answer Rose's question.

"Rose and Scorpius are dating," Jill finally said after an uncomfortable minute of silence.

"That's great," Erin said with a genuine smile, looking between Scorpius and Rose. "I'm glad _someone_ had a good evening."

Scorpius turned to look at Al, who was refusing to do anything other than glare at his empty plate. Unsure of what else to do, Scorpius scooped a spoonful of eggs onto his friend's plate and was grateful to see him automatically pick up his fork to start eating.

"Caleb was asking about how things were looking against Hufflepuff," Scorpius said to Al. His attempts to draw him out failed as Al merely shrugged, grabbing some bacon off a plate in front of him. He stuffed it into his mouth, his gaze fixed ahead as he chewed in supposed contemplation.

"Mandatory team meeting," Al said to Scorpius as he abruptly stood from the table. "Ten minutes. Spread the word."

With that, he turned and quickly walked out of the Great Hall, roughly brushing past a group of second years as he did so.

Scorpius' gaze immediately turned to Erin as soon as he lost sight of Al, and was shocked to find her watching the place her boyfriend had disappeared almost guiltily.

"Do we _want_ to know what he did?" Lily asked a bit callously. Erin's shoulders slumped as she turned back to her so far untouched muffin.

"He didn't _do_ anything."

People were giving her mixed looks of surprise and puzzlement.

"Then why were you so angry?" asked Rose.

"It's complicated," Erin insisted, glancing around at her audience uncertainly before her gaze landed on Scorpius.

"Want me to talk to him?" he asked uncertainly. Erin let out a sigh, obviously torn. Scorpius checked his watch, knowing he didn't have much time if he was going to gather the team.

"I can leave it alone, if you'd like," Scorpius offered, and Erin shook her head.

"If he wants to talk, let him," she said dismissively. "But he might not. I know I don't want to."

Scorpius nodded before eating the last bite of his toast and standing from the table. He stopped short when he felt a soft hand reach out and grab his own. Rose was giving him a small smile, and Scorpius realized he'd almost forgotten about how happy he now was, thanks to the distraction caused by their best friends. He smiled back at her, bending down to drop a quick kiss on her cheek before heading to gather his teammates, a spring in his step despite the complications of the morning and the dread that filled him at the prospect of facing a disgruntled Al.

* * *

"I don't want to talk about it," Erin snapped at Rose, her original mood at breakfast coming back as they walked towards the library. They'd managed to shake off everyone else, as they didn't have N.E.W.T.s to study for right after breakfast on a Sunday. Rose had assumed that Erin would want to talk about things as soon as they had a moment alone, but that apparently wasn't the case.

"Okay," Rose said slowly as they entered the mostly empty library. "If you change your mind…"

Erin gave a jerky nod as they claimed a table in the Transfiguration section. They studied in silence for almost an hour, Erin more focused on her note taking as she read through her potions textbook than Rose could remember seeing her in awhile. It wasn't until Erin broke her quill and had to dig in her bag for a new one that Rose thought it safe to say anything again.

"Aren't you going to ask me about last night?" she asked, the question coming out somewhat petulantly.

Erin did a double take at Rose's question and paused in the act of rifling through her bag to look at Rose in guilt.

"Sorry," she said as she finally located a quill. "Guess I've been a little self-focused this morning."

Rose couldn't help but let out a noise of agreement.

"How was it?" Erin asked, genuinely seeming to care about Rose's answer. It wasn't as if Rose thought her best friend wasn't interested in her personal life, but she knew how Erin could be when she had her own issues to worry about. She tended to become a bit short sighted, which only added to Rose's aggravation that Erin wouldn't tell her what was going on between her and Al.

"It was great, actually," said Rose choosing to ignore everything else and instead focus on the wonderful evening she'd had the night before. Erin reacted appropriately in all the right places, both of them giddy with excitement by the end of the story.

"I can't imagine Scorpius saying half those things," Erin said with an amused chuckle. "All so _cheesy_ and _romantic_ ," she teased.

"I can't imagine Al doing that either, but your stories say otherwise," Rose said with a smile and a raised eyebrow. However, this comment served to cause Erin to revert back to her previous disposition of surly and closed off. Rose let out a resigned sigh, leaning forward onto the table and watching her friend closely.

"Do I need to be worried?"

"About what?" Erin asked innocently.

"You," Rose said pointedly. "Al. Your relationship."

"It's fine," Erin said emphatically. "I'll get over it and he'll get over it and we'll make up like we always do."

Rose had to admit that Erin had a point. They'd fought before. Plenty of times. But this was the first true fall out they'd had since they'd started dating. Almost since the moment Erin snogged Al in the joint common room. Anything that had happened had been quickly fixed by one or the other. And by the sound of things, this had been going on since the night before.

"Did something happen with your dad?" Rose couldn't help but ask. "Did Al stuff that up?"

It took a few moments for Erin to say something, her face betraying her internal struggle.

"No," she finally managed to say. "He was actually pretty wonderful."

She fell silent, and Rose concluded it was probably best to wait until Erin felt ready to talk again, rather than pushing her to open up. She went back to her Muggle Studies homework, and her patience paid off a few minutes later.

"I think I want to talk about what happened," Erin said slowly, "but it's still a little fresh and I'm a little too embarrassed to-,"

She'd started to turn red as she spoke, and Rose watched in surprise as her best friend avoided her gaze, clearing her throat and shaking herself before going back to her studies.

What the hell had happened? Rose could probably count on only one had the number of times Erin had been embarrassed, and probably never to the point she was now. It made her less inclined to press her friend for answers, so Rose returned to her studies as well, neither saying anything else on the subject the rest of the morning.

* * *

Scorpius was thankful that he'd been able to locate every member of the team at breakfast, not wanting anyone to face Al's unreasonable wrath if they failed to make an appearance at a last minute team meeting. Thankfully, Al hadn't proven to be as unreasonable as Scorpius had feared, and the meeting was actually a productive one. They only had three weeks before their last match of the season, which also happened to be the last match they'd ever play, so he couldn't fault Al for taking it seriously, even though he'd groaned internally at the prospect of training on both Saturday _and_ Sunday the next few weekends.

Al dismissed the team after two hours of rigorous strategy discussion, everyone gladly escaping the Slytherin locker room to enjoy the remaining hours of their weekend as soon as they were able. Scorpius stayed seated on one of the benches as Al made one last adjustment to the extensive diagram he had drawn up on the board, before charming it so it was unable to be tampered with. He heaved a heavy sigh, his back still to Scorpius as he tossed the chalk onto the ledge of the board and ran a hand covered in white dust through his hair.

He turned and barely acknowledged that Scorpius was still there as he shoved his wand in his track pants pocket and moved to sit on the bench next to his best friend. Scorpius watched him, unsure how to handle Al's oddly composed demeanor that was tinged with frustration and maybe even a bit of regret. When Al finally _did_ speak, his words were the last thing Scorpius had expected to hear.

"I turned down sex last night."

Scorpius was sure his eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head as he stared at his best friend in shocked silence. Al let out a groan, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees before burying his face in his hands.

"With Erin?"

Al's head snapped up so fast and he glared at Scorpius with such intensity, that Scorpius was sure he would have cursed him had his wand not been stowed in his pocket.

"Yes!" Al said indignantly. "Fucking hell, I'm not _that_ much of an idiot."

Scorpius did his best not to laugh, unsure of how else to respond to this situation. He managed to school his features to be as impassive as possible.

"So, what happened?"

Al sighed again, continuing to lean forward but dropping his hands from his face as he stared straight ahead.

"We had dinner with Neville," he began, "and it went great. He's chuffed about all of it and wasn't even that bothered by the fact that we hadn't said anything sooner. Said he understood that it was a bit of an awkward situation, but it went fine. He and I actually did most of the talking. Anyway, Erin was right pleased with how everything went and suggested we find ourselves a nice empty classroom to spend some alone time in after."

Al turned slightly pink at this, but cleared his throat and continued on.

"I didn't have the map and it was getting late so we went back to my dorm to get it and things just… started happening."

He turned even more red at this, his gaze flickering briefly to Scorpius as if begging him to take over the conversation.

"But you stopped it?" Scorpius asked. Al nodded.

"We got a little carried away and before I knew it we were on my bed and there were a few articles of clothing missing and she was so bloody beautiful and more than willing…"

He trailed off after rushing through his words, his hands going back to his hair again as Scorpius waited patiently for him to get everything off his chest.

"It just all suddenly became very real," Al eventually said, his hands still buried in his hair as he stared at the floor. "I mean, she's a… and I mean It's not like I haven't done stuff before but I've never… and I don't even know how far things would have gone, but I don't think either of us would've wanted to stop if we'd kept things going.

"I just love her so fucking much, you know?" he said with an incredible amount of sincerity, raising his head to look at Scorpius. "And there's no way in hell I want to screw that up. It just felt like it was too soon.

"Anyway," Al continued with a sigh. "She got all weird about it and left in a bit of a strop, refusing to talk about it. I waited for her in the entrance hall this morning and she was bloody furious. You saw what happened next."

"Why?" Scorpius asked. "Why was she so angry?"

"I think she's embarrassed," Al said, his tone guilty and in no way mocking. "She sort of started all of it so I suppose I rejected her a bit. At least, that's the way she sees it, seeing as she didn't give me a chance to explain."

Al's frustration rose to the surface again. He scuffed his foot against the floor and tore at a fingernail, his eyes once again trained on the floor.

"Seeing as I have no real experience with all of this," Scorpius said slowly, "the only advice I can think to give is to talk to your girlfriend. Pretty sure she'll understand once she hears you out."

"You know we're talking about Erin Longbottom, right?" said Al, the closest thing Scorpius had seen to a smile crossing his face for the first time that day.

"Fair point," Scorpius said with a smirk. "Then I guess there's nothing left to do but shag her and get it over with."

Al looked up at Scorpius in shock, but his expression immediately turned to one of annoyance when he saw his friend's smirk. With a roll of his eyes, Al stood from the bench and started pacing in front of Scorpius, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I just have no bloody clue what to say, because even _I'm_ not sure why I stopped it," Al said in resignation before stopping and facing Scorpius. "What would you have done?"

Scorpius' mind immediately began jumping to a million different scenarios before he realized that they were about to cross into some dangerous territory.

"You realize that I'm now dating your cousin?" he said hesitantly. "So any situation I have similar to yours-,"

"Fuck, nevermind," Al mumbled behind his hands, which had gone to his face after Scorpius' very fair point. "Actually, let's just forget that Rose could ever be part of this equation and just answer the question."

It was a tribute to how confused Al was that he still pressed Scorpius for an answer. Taking a deep breath, Scorpius slowly released it as he gathered his thoughts.

"I think that I would have wanted to talk about things _before_ they got that far," said Scorpius. "Have some expectations of what to expect and how you're both feeling about all that before you start ripping each other's clothes off."

He paused to smirk at Al, who was scowling at him.

"But seeing as you've skipped over that part," Scorpius continued, "You should definitely do it now. No sense in not making sure you're on the same page."

"But I don't even know what page I'm on," Al said in frustration. "I don't know if it was the fact that it was all happening so fast or that I'd just promised her dad I'd look after her or if I'm just not ready, but how can she be ready and I'm not?"

"Al, this whole thing started out physical," Scorpius pointed out. "Maybe you're just aware of that and you're trying to make up for it by focusing on other things instead, and your conscience got the better of you last night."

Al nodded vaguely, weighing the validity of his friend's assessment of the situation.

"I suppose that makes sense. But it's not like we don't know each other. Maybe we've only officially been together for a couple months, but I've known her my whole life. What's there to get to know?"

Scorpius scoffed. "Plenty. You two have always been close, sure, but emotionally? There's a lot more to being in a relationship than sex and a good time."

"I know that," Al snapped. "I already told you I love her. I already told _her_ that. So why couldn't I just shag my girlfriend like I wanted to?"

He was practically yelling at the end, a ball of frustration and confusion, and Scorpius suddenly thought back to another conversation that they'd had in this very locker room the previous term.

"Al, as soon as you go there with her, it's real," said Scorpius. "I know you're not the type of bloke who'd shag a girl just for the hell of it, so I know it would mean something to you if you did. I know you and Mandy had a bit of fun, but this is far more real than that, which can be bloody terrifying. You've spent the past few years doing everything you can to hide from committing to anyone because of the future you see for yourself. Hell, it took you how long to finally grow a pair when it came to Erin? Let's face it, you've been scared this whole time and even though you haven't realized it, you've been leaving yourself room for an out. That's why you were so vague the first time you thought you were asking her to be with you, it's why you took forever to talk to her dad, it's why you wouldn't say I love you first, and it's why you wouldn't sleep with her.

"And maybe it's all well and good to not be ready yet but that's for you to figure out yourself. It's okay for you to not be ready, but if you're going to keep pussyfooting around because you're scared to commit when it's bloody obvious you love this girl, maybe it makes sense that you wait until you're damn sure you're in this thing. She sure as hell doesn't deserve anything less than that."

Al's eyes were wide in shock. He gave a nervous gulp as Scorpius stared him down, hoping he wouldn't brush aside everything he'd just been told.

"Have you even actually told her you love her?" Scorpius couldn't help asking. "Or was it just implied?"

"I told her last night," Al said thickly. Scorpius could tell he was mulling over everything he'd said, so he waited, watching as various emotions played across his friend's face.

"You're right," Al finally said, his tone firm

and his stance confident. "No more messing around."

"Great. Now talk to your girlfriend about your feelings and leave our talks to Quidditch and Auror related stuff, yeah?" Scorpius said jokingly. "We've had one too many of these conversations."

Al chuckled, finally letting a smile appear on his face as he relaxed and Scorpius stood. This was quickly followed by a look of determination, and Scorpius had to move fast as Al quickly left the locker room. Scorpius trailed behind him, wondering what Al had gotten it in his head to do and whether or not he wanted to see what he had planned. They walked in silence and reached the Slytherin dormitories at record speed. Scorpius watched as Al quickly located the map, revealing the many halls of Hogwarts on the parchment a moment later. It only took him a few minutes to find what he was looking for, and then he was heading back out of the dorm. It wasn't until they were almost there that Scorpius realized they were heading towards the library.

"Al, maybe this isn't the best place-,"

But Scorpius was saved from trying to stop his friend from making a scene in the library when they rounded the final corner that would lead them there and found Rose and Erin blocking their way.

Scorpius let out a sigh of relief, as did Rose. She looked like she was about to walk over to him when Al stopped in the middle of the corridor and started speaking.

"I'm not sorry."

Erin's face, which had been guarded when she saw Al, became indignant, and Scorpius couldn't help letting out a groan at his friend's stupidity.

"I mean, I'm sorry I upset you," Al backtracked, "but I think I made the right call because what we almost did is one hell of a big deal and I'd never want either of us to regret it. I think we both know that we tend to do a lot of acting before thinking so we are going to sort out our shit and talk about this."

While Erin's stoney countenance hadn't completely melted, it did seem softened a bit by Al's words. Scorpius sighed in relief that his best friend wasn't about to be cursed within an inch of his life, and looked at Rose, who was glancing between Al and Erin curiously.

"I know I've been a bit hesitant to take certain steps, but I'm more scared of losing you than anything else. I don't want to be scared of this or of you or how I feel, but this is all still a little difficult for me to wrap my mind around; the idea of actually committing to something or someone outside of my future career. Yes, I love you and yes, I want to be with you, but the last thing I want to do is mess this up and sex _always_ complicates things."

" _What?!"_

Every eye turned to Rose, who was looking between her best friend and her cousin with a dropped jaw. She seemed unable to form words as it registered with Al and Scorpius that the girls' time together hadn't been nearly as revealing as their own.

"Shit," Al mumbled, grimacing and rubbing a hand over his face. "You didn't tell her?"

"No!" Erin said with righteous indignation. "I was embarrassed! And I can't believe you actually told Scorpius."

"You should be glad I did 'cause he actually talked me into this," said Al.

"You told him he should sleep with her?!" Rose asked shrilly, turning to her boyfriend in surprise.

"No!" Scorpius said, completely regretting ever getting mixed up in this. "I told him he should talk to her and stop acting so bloody scared to commit to anything."

Rose relaxed at his response, her cheeks going slightly pink in embarrassment at her outburst.

Al and Erin were now watching each other closely, her waiting for him to speak and him trying to find the words. Scorpius took the opportunity to reach forward and grab Rose by the hand, dragging her behind him and away from what should be a private moment.

"What the hell happened?" Rose asked after they'd put a good bit of distance between themselves and their friends.

"Long story short, Erin wanted to and so did Al, but he said no because he's too bloody scared of how real this all is and he's gotten very good at not committing to anyone over the years."

"Oh," Rose said simply, turning everything over in her mind. It was a few moments before she spoke up again as they continued to walk.

"Sorry I snapped at you," she said, guilt lacing her words as Scorpius met her apologetic gaze. "I was worried that you were encouraging them to sleep together and if you were that on board with them making that decision, then…"

She trailed off, her cheeks turning pink as she dropped her gaze down to her feet. Scorpius felt himself grow warm, realizing what she was getting at and stopping them in the middle of the corridor.

"No," he said finally, Rose looking up at him with an open expression. "We've been together for one day, Rose. No way are we ready for that anytime soon. And I promise, unlike our friends, we'll have a nice long chat about it before any damage can be done."

Rose smiled, her other hand reaching up to grip his arm and pulling him down so she could place a soft kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you," she said as they continued walking.

"For what?"

"For understanding me so well," she said with a shrug. "I love Al and Erin and I'm happy they're together, but I'm glad we're not them."

Scorpius smiled.

"I'm pretty sure the world is only able to handle one Al and Erin."

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for all your lovely words about the last chapter! I loved it and I'm so glad you all did too. Looking forward to your thoughts on this one as well :)**

 **I will obviously post a snapshot of the Al and Erin side of this whole thing. Hopefully within the week!**

 **Also, this story is obviously going to mature along with the characters and relationships, but I don't plan on ever writing anything _too_ explicit. It will stay within the parameters of the rating :)**

 **Happy Reading!**


	46. She's got to be somebody's baby

**A/N: So sorry for the long wait! You get a nice long chapter for your patience :)**

* * *

Those first few days of Rose Weasley dating Scorpius Malfoy were filled with stares and questions and many conversations about how everything had come about, from their friends as well as from people whom Rose had never even spoken to, as far as she could recall. Their first prefect meeting as a couple was nothing short of chaotic. They'd eventually gotten everyone to pay attention and accomplished what they needed to, but both of them were a bit in awe of the reactions people were having to the new development in their personal lives. Their friends and family members, yes, but everyone else?

"You two are some of the most well known students in the entire school," Riley had said with a roll of her eyes during one of Rose's tutoring sessions. "Not to mention who your parents are. It's bloody ridiculous how much people care, but not that surprising either."

Mandy Jordan had talked Rose's ear off at dinner one night, and then she'd been cornered by her former dorm mates in the joint common room while she and Al were working on some homework during their free period. Natasha Jones had been predictably gossipy about it, but Rose was surprised by how interested Miranda Robertson seemed to be too, since she didn't usually care enough to discuss such things.

Alec Turner and Carter Brighton had offered a few teasing words of congratulations as she and Scorpius had passed them in the hall, while Devon Shepard, who was with them and looked remarkably haggard, had even given them a nod and a small smile.

But Rose's favorite reaction had hands down been Corbin's

"Thank you," he gushed when he finally caught up with them the Wednesday after they'd started dating, sliding in across from them at the Slytherin table for breakfast.

"For what?" Rose asked, as his statement had been directed at her.

"For finally putting me out of my misery. It's been my least favorite thing in the world to watch him pining over you. I'm glad it can stop now."

Scorpius had turned bright red and indignant at Corbin's assessment of his behavior up to this point.

"I did no such thing!" he insisted.

"Should've seen him on Christmas morning," Corbin said in an undertone to Rose, who was having a hard time not laughing at Scorpius' expense. "He'd get this far off look in his eyes every minute or so, and it was bloody obvious where his head was at."

"Will you shut the hell up?" Scorpius spluttered. "He's exaggerating," he said, turning to Rose in annoyance.

"Am not," Corbin said with a smirk. "Wouldn't even flirt with any other girls at any of the Slytherin parties."

"Well," Scorpius said begrudgingly, "that part's true."

"That's _not_ true. He flirted with me."

Scorpius rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh as Riley took the seat next to Corbin.

"Well, at least you attempted to," she said with a smirk.

"I'm really sorry," said Scorpius, a slightly nervous expression on his face as he looked at Rose, but she was grinning delightedly.

"There is no part of me that's worried about you pining after me or flirting with other girls," Rose assured him. "It's actually quite flattering that I had such a profound effect on you."

All the worry fell from his face as he smiled warmly at her.

"You still do."

Rose beamed, leaning in to kiss him lightly on the cheek. It was still a bit surreal to her. She was actually allowed to do that. She was actually able to show how she truly felt about Scorpius Malfoy. And he was doing so much to show that he cared about her. She was having a hard time focusing on anything else, which didn't bode well for her studies. They'd actually talked the night before about setting up boundaries during study times, just so they could stay focused. Especially during the times they were alone.

"You two are making me lose my appetite," Riley said with a pinched expression.

"Come on," Corbin said, jabbing her in the ribs with his elbow. Her thoroughly displeased expression turned to him instead. "Can't you just be happy for people?"

"Do you know me at all?"

Corbin had simply rolled his eyes and finishing his breakfast before telling her he'd meet her in Ancient Runes and wandering over towards the Hufflepuff table.

"That still a thing?" Rose asked in surprise as Corbin sat next to Charlotte.

"I don't think they're dating," said Scorpius, "But I can tell he likes her. He was just telling me the other day he's disappointed we're playing her house in our next match so he can't ask her to root for him."

"Wow, that's quite the milestone," Rose said with a chuckle.

"This is just what he does," Riley said with a roll of her eyes and a flick of her dark hair. "He takes a fancy to a girl, and he does his best to impress her and flatter her and they have a good time, and then he just sort of lets it fade into the background after a snog or two."

Rose looked at Scorpius in mild surprise at this description of his cousin's dating habits.

"True, I'm afraid," Scorpius said matter of factly. "Don't think he's ever actually committed to anyone."

Rose nodded before looking over towards the Hufflepuff table again, where Charlotte was now laughing at something Corbin had said.

"Not that he needs to," Scorpius added. "He's only just seventeen. I hate when he strings them along, though. Hopefully he doesn't do the same with Charlotte."

Riley gave what sounded like a grunt of agreement as she devoured a plate of potatoes that she'd slathered in ketchup. They were joined by Al a few moments later.

"You seen Erin yet?" he asked as he slid in next to Riley, who shot him a look when he snatched a potato off her plate.

"No, but she said she had to finish our essay on the Fidelius charm last night so she might have been up late," said Rose. Al nodded, but continued to glance around the Great Hall as he buttered a muffin.

The past few days had shown a difference in Al and Erin's relationship, and Rose was thankful that it appeared to be a good one. When they'd shown up in the Great Hall for lunch after talking things out, there was an easiness to their interactions that was more pronounced than it had been before. Rose had expected them to be a little hesitant and uncomfortable for awhile, and even though she could see a bit of that in Erin that first meal, it had disappeared completely by now. Of course, they were still the same Al and Erin that they had been before, so it wasn't always smooth sailing, but Rose found herself envious of how confident they both now appeared to be in their relationship.

Erin arrived for breakfast just in time to grab a muffin before they all headed off to Defense Against the Dark Arts. While Harry had taught them their first Patronus lesson, he was unable to come for any following ones. They'd still been practicing them for at least half of their class time the past week and a half, using the other half of the class to study protective enchantments.

Scorpius was doing brilliant, and he could now keep his Patronus around for as long as he continued to focus. Al had been able to get his to fully form the very next class, and was very pleased by the wolf that briefly appeared towards the end of the lesson. His had been growing steadily stronger as well. When Rose had finally managed hers the class before, she'd been in shock. Everyone watched on in surprise as her Patronus became a beautiful eagle. It seemed so small Scorpius', but Rose let out a joy filled laugh as it flew around his Patronus, the bear swiping its paws at it but missing due to his sluggish movements.

The only people left in the class who'd yet to form a full corporeal Patronus were Devon Shepard, and Erin. She'd been close on Friday, but then Al had tried a little too hard to help her on Monday and it had only made her frustrated and self-conscious. When he told her at the end of the lesson that it just took more practice, she'd snapped at him and said she might have been able to focus better if he hadn't been so overbearing. This had resulted in a bit of an argument, reassuring Rose that not everything had changed.

It was with her fingers crossed that Rose entered Defense Against the Dark Arts after breakfast. They handed in their essays and listened to Simpson introduce the subject of disillusionment charms before the desks were cleared and they began to pair off and practice their Patronuses once again.

"This is the last time we will be going over this in class," Simpson said from the front of the class. "If you're not comfortable with your abilities after this, we can talk about tutoring, but this is it otherwise."

Rose saw Erin biting her lip nervously as she tried to not buckle under the pressure. Al had moved to stand across from her so they could partner up like they had done every previous lesson.

"Do you want to partner me or Scorp instead?" Rose asked quietly so Al wouldn't hear her. Erin took a deep breath, releasing it with a sigh.

"No, I think we'll be okay," she said calmly. "I warned him on the way over here that he better lay off."

Rose chuckled at the pointed look Erin threw Al, who gave her a sheepish smile. They started practicing, and Rose found it hard to focus on her own charm while keeping tabs on how Erin was coming along. She could see her friend getting frustrated out of the corner of her eye, while Al did his best to offer words of encouragement that wouldn't make her even more frustrated.

A triumphant sound went up from the other end of the room, and Rose turned just in time to see a goat burst out of the end of Devon Shepard's wand. It only lasted a short time, but Rose found she was pleased to see the smile that lit up Devon's face at his accomplishment. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen him smile.

"Good for him," Scorpius said as they watched Alec and Carter slap their friend on the back.

"Will you just listen to me for one second!" they heard Al say sharply to Erin, who appeared to have been cut short in telling Al off. Rose watched as her cousin approached his girlfriend, no longer afraid to be tough with her.

"You're thinking too hard. You need to feel. And you need to let yourself feel. I've seen you happy so I know it's in there, just stop shutting it out."

Erin gave a visible gulp at the intensity of Al's gaze, her eyes wide and surprised and vulnerable. Softened at her expression, he moved to stand behind her. Erin watched him suspiciously as his hands went to her shoulders, and he squeezed them gently, causing Erin to instantly relax.

"Take a deep breath," Al said calmly. "Stop thinking, close your eyes, and feel."

Everyone was now watching as Erin did just as she was told. She raised her wand and froze, breathing steadily. And as Rose watched a genuine smile flicker across Erin's face, she knew that this time, it was going to work.

The whole roomed cheered as a dog that looked like a Labrador Retriever burst out of the tip of Erin's wand. Her eyes flew open and her jaw dropped in shock as she watched it take a few jumps around the room before disappearing. She jumped up and down in excitement before turning to a beaming Al and flinging herself at him. Al stumbled backwards a bit bet held Erin tight as she kissed him soundly while their classmates started to whistle and whoop.

"Alright, alright, settle down!" Simpson instructed. "Potter! Longbottom! Not in class, please!"

Erin pulled herself away from Al, who was bubbling up with pride, both pink in the face.

"You should try again," said Rose, as she and Scorpius each gave Erin a congratulatory hug. She was able to produce the Patronus a few more times before class was over, and they all laughed and thoroughly enjoyed themselves as they watched the bear, the wolf, the dog, and the eagle dance around the room together.

* * *

The overwhelming amount of work the seventh years had to do was causing some serious exhaustion. On top of his studies, Scorpius also found his time eaten up by Quidditch and Head duties, not to mention the extra workload that came with his History of Magic studies. He'd taken to napping during his free periods on Tuesdays while Rose had tutoring with Riley to help keep the exhaustion at bay.

Along with all of that was the fact that Rose still hadn't heard back from any of the places she'd interviewed. The stress was starting to show, and Scorpius was doing his best to help her handle it, but he wasn't sure how much longer she'd be able to wait.

It was the week leading up to the Slytherin-Hufflepuff Quidditch match and the first week of May when Scorpius woke suddenly from one of his naps as someone came bursting into the Heads common room. He groaned and rolled over just as Rose plopped down on the couch next to him, a smile lighting up her face as he looked blearily up at her.

"What time is it?" he said through a yawn, attempting to rub the sleep out of his eyes. "Did I miss lunch?"

"Almost," Rose said, still grinning happily down at him. It was then that he noticed a letter gripped tightly in her hand. His mind snapped to attention, and he propped himself up on his elbows, looking between her face and the letter in her hands.

"Which one?" he asked in excitement.

"The publishing house," she said. "Bobbin Books in London."

"And?"

If possible, her smile grew wider. "You're looking at the new assistant to the associate editor."

"Yes!"

Rose let out a delighted laugh as Scorpius grabbed her around the waist and pulled her down on top of him in a hug.

"That's brilliant, Rose," he told her, and she pushed herself up so she could look down at him.

"I can hardly believe it," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I can," he said matter of factly. "You're brilliant."

Rose gave a beautiful and timid laugh, her cheeks going a bit pink. Scorpius removed one of his hands from around her waist to reach up and brush her hair behind her ear. She let out a sigh before lowering herself back down towards him. He pulled her close and kissed her, the act more familiar than it had been a few weeks ago, but still just as thrilling.

"Thank you," said Rose after she pulled away.

"For what?" he asked as she sat up. She rested her hand on his chest, and he smiled as she wrapped his tie around her hand.

"I've been a bit of a mess all week, and I don't think I could've gotten through it without you reminding me to take a deep breath every so often," she said. Scorpius chuckled, pushing himself up so they faced each other, her hand still gripping his tie.

"Any time," he said with a smile, leaning forward to kiss her once more, and laughing as he heard her stomach give a growl.

"Want to grab some lunch?" he asked with a chuckle. She nodded and they stood, Rose reaching up to fix his sleep ruffled hair before she grabbed his hand and led him out of the common room.

"So, you're going to accept?" he asked as they made their way to the Great Hall.

"I think so," said Rose. "I still haven't heard back from everywhere I applied or even interviewed, but I don't think I'll get a better offer. At least not one I think I'd be inclined to take."

Scorpius nodded in understanding. "When do you need to let them know?"

"I have a few weeks. They said I can start as soon as I'd like, but no later than the beginning of August," she said, her excitement about her future running through her. "That way I can get settled and everything after graduating. Erin's excited. This means it makes sense for us to get a flat in London."

They talked about what it would be like in the near future, Rose and Erin in one flat and Al and Scorpius in the housing for the Auror Academy.

"Assuming we pass our N.E.W.T.s and are actually accepted into the program," Scorpius couldn't help pointing out.

"Stop being ridiculous. You're going to get in," Rose said, challenging him to disagree with her.

"Fine," he said with a chuckle. "We're all going to land our dream jobs and be together forever and live jolly and happy lives where nothing will ever go wrong."

He laughed as she gave him a playful shove, attempting to scowl at him but failing miserably.

"Is it wrong to hope that everything turns out the way we want it to?" she asked playfully.

"I suppose not," he allowed. "Just so long as we realize that it might not always be perfect, and things might go to shit at times and could very well be bloody hard."

"Aren't I the one who usually gives the whole perspective and realistic speech?"

"Usually," he said with a smile. "But if this year has taught me anything, it's that you can work through whatever life throws at you if you want something bad enough."

Rose gave him a warm smile, her hand tightening around his.

"That's a good way to look at it."

Scorpius was stopped from saying anything in response when they reached the entrance hall just in time to see Devon Shepard bolting out of the Great Hall, Alec Turner and Carter Brighton on his heels.

"Stay the fuck away," Shepard snapped, throwing off Alec's arm as he tried to stop him from storming out of the castle. "I have to go see her."

"She's gone, Dev," Carter said steadily, his voice laced with sympathy. "There's nothing you can do."

Rose and Scorpius watched as Devon Shepard came to an abrupt stop with his hands on the oak front doors just as Professor McGonagall and Professor Bray came out of the Great Hall and approached the three Gryffindors with somber looks on their faces.

"We are so terribly sorry, Mr. Shepard," McGonagall said in a sympathetic voice. "As soon as you're ready, Professor Bray will be able to escort you home to be with your father. Is there anything else you need?"

Devon was breathing heavily, and Scorpius felt an ache in his chest as he realized what must have happened.

"No," Devon managed to ground out, his hands still pressed against the oak front door. "Thank you, Professor."

With that, McGonagall gave a nod, telling Alec and Carter she'd leave the rest to them before returning to the Great Hall. Malcolm told Devon to meet him in his office when he was ready before heading there himself. He passed Rose and Scorpius, giving them a sad smile as he did so, and turned the corner just as Devon Shepard let out a heart wrenching sob and rested his head against the doors.

* * *

Devon Shepard's absence from the school grounds was noticed more than Rose had anticipated. She and Scorpius had left the three Gryffindor boys to themselves and entered the Great Hall to find the mood to be particularly somber. They joined their friends at the Gryffindor table, who immediately informed them that McGonagall and Bray had approached their table to pull Shepard aside, but he'd refused, insisting they just tell him whatever news they had. He'd stormed out of the Great Hall the moment after McGonagall informed him that his sister had passed. It was now Saturday morning, and he hadn't been seen since.

"I feel horrible for him," Lucy said at breakfast. Erin nodded from her seat beside her.

"I can't even imagine going through that."

"Do you know when he's coming back?" Rose asked Alec, who happened to be sitting next to her that morning. He looked a little worn down himself.

"Should be here on Monday," he said with a sigh. "Doubt he'll ever be the same again, though."

Somber faces lined the table at his words, but the atmosphere in the Great Hall livened up a moment later when the Hufflepuff Quidditch team made their entrance.

"You'd think they actually had a shot at the Cup," Erin said with an amused shake of her head as the Hufflepuff table cheered. Rose laughed.

"Is there really a chance of anyone beating Slytherin?"

"Hey!" Alec said indignantly. "Remember where you're sitting, and what house you're in for that matter."

"Alec, Slytherin is ahead of everyone else by almost two hundred points," Erin said. "I'm just being realistic."

"Crazier things have happened," he argued back. Erin was unable to retaliate when the Great Hall erupted in cheers once again as the Slytherin team made their entrance. Al was walking at the front, brimming with pride and accepting high fives as they made their way down the Slytherin table. The whole team seemed excitedly on edge and more than ready to take on the day's events as they sat down for breakfast.

"You're not so far gone as to sit with the Slytherins during the match, right?" Alec asked, followed by the sound of clanking dishes and Miranda Robertson leaning around her teammate to look wide-eyed at Erin and Rose.

"Don't you dare betray this house or my team," she said threateningly, brandishing her fork at them.

"Miranda, we've only ever sat with the Gryffindors and that's not going to change," Erin assured her. The Gryffindor captain watched them both skeptically for a moment before deciding to buy their story and going back to her breakfast.

"You sure you can keep that promise about house loyalty?" said Alec a few minutes later. Rose followed his line of sight and watched as Al and Scorpius stood from the Slytherin table and began to make their way across the Great Hall.

"Merlin's balls. I told him not to do this," Erin grumbled as the two Slytherins approached them. Rose only had a moment to look at Erin in question before Al and Scorpius sat down in the empty seats across from them.

"I have a bit of a favor to ask," Scorpius said with a grin, though Rose could tell there was a slightly nervous quality to it.

"Alright," Rose said a bit uncertainly. "What is it?"

Scorpius' grin widened as he unlooped the Slytherin scarf that was hanging around his neck.

"No! Not happening," Miranda jumped in as she saw Scorpius move to place the scarf around Rose's neck. He paused and looked at the Gryffindor captain with a raised brow.

"It's not like she's on your team, Robertson," he said a bit patronizingly.

"I don't bloody care, because odds are, you're the team to beat when we play our last match, and I don't want any bad luck contributing to our chances."

Scorpius rolled his eyes and so did almost everyone else.

"It's not going to make a difference, Randy," Alec told her placatingly. "Rose will still root for us when we play Ravenclaw, and she'll still be thrilled when we win the Cup. Right?"

He gave her a pointed look that had Rose nodding right away.

"Fine," Miranda said before going back to her meal, though she stabbed at her sausage with a bit more force than before.

"Now that that's taken care of," said Scorpius. He started to hand the scarf over to Rose again, but he found himself stopped once more.

"Doesn't Rose get a say in this?" said Erin, her arm going out to block Scorpius from reaching Rose. "Maybe she doesn't want to wear it."

Scorpius shifted his gaze to Rose and he looked at her questioningly. She could also tell he was a bit nervous for her response.

"Well, it is a bit presumptuous," she said slowly, trying not to let a grin slip through when his eyes widened in a bit of panic. "But," she continued, batting Erin's arm out of the way, "I'd be willing to let that go. Just this once."

Scorpius let out a sigh in relief as Rose smiles brightly, reaching out to take the scarf out of his hand. Erin shook her head as Rose wrapped it around her neck, breathing in the scent she was more familiar with than she'd previously realized.

"Fine," Erin said with a sigh, looking resignedly at Al. "Let's get this over with."

Al quirked a brow at her in question. "What?"

"You ask me to wear yours, I say no, you pout, and then you get over it," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"Oh," said Al, a slightly guilty look on his face. "I wasn't planning on asking, actually."

It was slightly comical to watch Erin's eyes widen in shock at this news before they drifted down to see that Al was, in fact, not wearing his school scarf.

"I see," said Erin, doing her best to compose herself and act like she didn't care. "Well, good luck, then."

She focused in on her breakfast, pushing her potatoes around her plate and doing a poor job of hiding her hypocritical disappointment. Rose looked over at Al, prepared to give him a telling off, but he was grinning at the top of Erin's head. She watched as he pulled something made of fabric out from under the table that must have been hidden in the pocket of his sweatshirt. He tossed it across the table and it landed on top of Erin's head. She jumped a bit in surprise before quickly pulling it off and giving Al a scowl as her hair stuck up from the static, but he merely continued grinning at her.

The scowl immediately fell away from her face as she held up the green practice jersey with Al's number and last name on the back. After staring at it for what felt like a full minute, she lowered it, looking at Al with an unreadable expression.

"You don't have to wear it," he said with a shrug, "but it's a bit of a Potter tradition. Dad used to wear Mum's to her matches and Violet wears James'. Wanted to at least give you the option."

He chewed on a piece of bacon as he continued to wait for a response from Erin, who seemed to be rendered mute. She was running the worn material through her fingers and studying it as if it would give her the answers she was looking for.

"You know," said Rose, leaning in closely to talk to Erin in a whisper, "Al might've thought he was the one too scared to go all in, but I think you are too, in some ways."

Rose sat back as Erin shot her an annoyed look, knowing full well she had a point.

"You're not allowed to gloat," Erin told Al, who smirked but nodded. "And you can't use this against me in any way either."

He shook his head, raising his hand as if to swear to her demands. "This would be seen solely as a loving gesture made as a show of support for your talented and loving boyfriend, who will not use it against you in any way."

A smile started to appear on Erin's lips, her hard exterior falling away to reveal how pleased she actually was with this new development. It was with a brilliant smile that Al watched Erin pull the jersey on over the plain black jumper she was wearing, tugging her hair out of the collar and shooting him a grin. He stood and leaned across the table towards her.

"You're brilliant, did you know that?" he said, continuing to grin as Erin chuckled at him.

"So are you. Now go fly your arse off and catch that Snitch."

Al laughed and shook his head as Erin winked at him. Leaning forward, he kissed her soundly, resulting in a few whistles and catcalls. He pulled back and gave a wink of his own before moving to head back to his team, clapping Scorpius on the shoulder in what was supposed to be a signal to follow.

But Scorpius stayed in his seat a moment longer, looking torn. Rose was willing to bet she knew exactly what he was thinking, since the same thoughts were bouncing around her head as well.

There had been some hand holding and a few kisses on cheeks or hands, but nothing more. Not in public. She was fairly certain Al and Erin hadn't even seen them kiss yet. But she wanted nothing more than to lean across the table, wish him good luck, and give him a kiss to go with it. At the same time, she didn't want to do it just because Al and Erin had. And she didn't know how she could relay all of this information without everyone listening in.

Scorpius saved her from having to make any decision by leaning forward and placing a quick kiss on her cheek before flashing her a smile and standing to leave.

"Good luck!" she hollered as he made to follow his team down to the pitch, and he threw her a grin over his shoulder before jogging to catch up. They left the Great Hall to more cheers from their house, closely followed by the Hufflepuff team.

"You know," said Alec in a mockingly contemplative voice, "I'm not sure which part of that was the most disgusting."

Laughter followed his comment, along with a playful shove from Rose, and then everyone began making their way down to the Quidditch pitch. Before Rose and Erin could make it farther than a few steps, they were stopped by their Head of House.

"I don't want to alarm you," Neville began calmly, "but your brother is in St. Mungo's and I'm on my way to see him now."

Erin's eyes widened in panic as her father placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"What happened? Is he alright? Should I come with you?" Erin asked in a rush, receiving curious glances from some nearby Ravenclaws, but Neville was shaking his head.

"He was out shadowing some senior Aurors at a house fire and went in to get someone out. Just a few burns and smoke inhalation. Nothing to be worried about. He even told me not to come but I'm going to anyway. Malcolm is aware and said he'd go tell your sister. I'll come find you as soon as I get back."

Erin nodded, letting out a sigh of relief, though her eyes still betrayed a slight amount of worry.

"Go enjoy the match," he told his daughter, pulling her into a hug that Erin returned gratefully. The Great Hall was nearly empty by now, and Neville gave Rose a comforting pat on the shoulder after pulling away from his daughter before he left them.

"You alright?" Rose asked as they continued to head down to the pitch once again. Erin let out a sigh, reaching out and linking her arm through Rose's.

"Yeah," she said. "I know he'll be fine. Just wasn't expecting that."

By the time they reached the stands, Erin was mostly back to normal, and Rose was in awe. How could Erin be so calm about this when Rose's heart had been pounding since Neville had opened his mouth? It wasn't even her brother, yet she knew she'd hardly be able to think about anything else until Neville came back and assured them that everything actually was fine.

She was pulled from her thoughts by Erin asking where she wanted to sit, and they eventually settled in the Gryffindor section near a group of second years and close to the Ravenclaws, well away from their house team after receiving not-so-welcoming looks from Miranda.

They'd barely taken their seats before Jill and Molly pushed their way through the crowded rows of students in the Ravenclaw section.

"What happened?" Jill asked, a bit out of breath as she pushed aside a few first years that were sitting behind Erin and Rose. "Andy Perkins said Ethan's in the hospital?"

"Who the hell is Andy Perkins?" Erin asked in bewilderment.

"He's a fifth year Ravenclaw," Jill said dismissively. "He overheard you talking to your dad after breakfast. Is Ethan okay?"

"He's fine," Erin said with a roll of her eyes. "There was a fire and they were rescuing people. Just inhaled some smoke and got a few burns."

"Oh," Jill said, sagging and smiling in relief. "Thank Merlin. The way he was talking made it sound a lot worse."

"Does this mean I'll have people coming up to me all day asking if he's on his deathbed?" Erin said in exasperation. "He's _fine_. I doubt I'd be here right now if he wasn't."

Jill gave a chuckle in agreement at this, and Erin turned back to face the pitch as the teams entered and Mandy Jordan began announcing the lineups. But Rose was watching Molly, who hadn't said a word. Her face had been pale and tense when she sat down, and though she seemed relieved by the favorable news, she almost appeared to be shaking as she took deep breaths and gripped the bench beneath her, her gaze firmly set on the pitch.

Rose had almost forgotten that Ethan had been writing to Molly since the beginning of the school year. It hadn't really been talked about since Jill mentioned it over Christmas, but Rose could recall multiple moments over the past few months where she saw Molly either engrossed in a letter, or busing writing one. As far as Rose was aware, they weren't together. But that didn't mean Molly wasn't emotionally invested. Her current demeanor was enough to prove that she was.

Rose's focus was pulled back to the pitch when the Quaffle was released and the crowd cheered.

"And Slytherin has been the dominant team this season," Mandy said as Corbin took possession of the Quaffle. "Leading in the hunt for the Cup by just under two hundred points. Potter really has assembled a fine team this year."

Erin was now fully immersed in the game, the concerns of half an hour ago no longer keeping her from focusing on other things. But Rose wasn't fairing as favorably. She always heard whenever Teddy was hurt and had even seen him with bumps and bruise, Uncle Harry had been laid up a few times over her lifetime. Then of course there was her father, which she tried not to think about. She should be used to this by now, yet she still felt shaken.

"And that's another goal by Dunn, giving Hufflepuff a thirty point lead!"

The sea of yellow and black cheered as their captain and star Chaser pumped his fist in triumph before transitioning into defense.

"If Hufflepuff only had a decent Seeker, we'd actually be in trouble," Erin said, sounding a bit impressed.

" _We?"_ Rose said in amusement. Erin just rolled her eyes and gave Rose a nudge with her elbow before focusing back on the game.

"With Slytherin only managing two goals at this point, you have to assume that Potter is focusing all his energy on finding that Snitch," said Mandy. "Hufflepuff already showed what they can do in their win against Ravenclaw earlier this season, when they didn't even catch the Snitch."

Al was in fact circling the pitch with a determined look on his face, the Hufflepuff Seeker right on his heels.

"A spectacular goal by Malfoy!" Mandy said, accompanied by cheers from the Slytherins. "The score now stands at fifty to thirty. He's had a brilliant career, Malfoy has, and he'll be the reason Slytherin manages to keep up with Dunn's team today."

Rose and Erin cheered as Hufflepuff made another attempt to score, but Scorpius managed a steal off one of their less experienced Chasers, tossing the Quaffle to Corbin before taking off down the pitch.

The next minute happened in slow motion for Rose. She watched as Corbin and Eddie Marsh tossed the Quaffle back and forth while making their way towards the Hufflepuff goal posts, Scorpius flying ahead and looking back.

"And Marsh passes back to Zabini who looks ahead for Malfoy. And he gets rid of it just in time!"

The crowd cheered as Corbin launched the Quaffle just before rolling out of the path of a well placed Bludger. Rose held her breath as the Quaffle soared through the air towards Scorpius, but Corbin had been thrown off thanks to the Bludger, and Scorpius was speeding up to reach it.

Before she knew it, Rose was on her feet and hollering for Scorpius to look out as the other Bludger sped his way and caused him to throw himself a bit of course to dodge it. And then one of the Hufflepuff Chasers was racing him towards the Quaffle and Scorpius was reaching for it and paying no attention to where he was going and moving out of her line of sight before an almighty crash sounded and he collided with the stands, the Hufflepuff Chaser pulling away just in time.

"SCORP!" Rose hollered as cries of shock and concern were heard throughout the crowd as the stands shook with the force of the impact. Erin was gripping Rose's arm as they watched most of the Slytherin team and even a few Hufflepuffs race towards the ground where Rose assumed Scorpius was now lying, but she couldn't see over the edge of the stands. Madam Pomfrey and Madam Hooch were down there in seconds, closely followed by Professor Simpson.

"And that's one of the nastiest crashes I've seen," Mandy was saying in a concerned voice. "If Malfoy can't get back on his broom, they'll have to continue without him, which is definitely not a position Slytherin can afford to be in right now."

All they could do was wait with baited breath for a few minutes before the teams started taking back to the air. Rose kept her eyes trained on Madam Hooch, who flew up to Mandy and spoke quickly to her.

"It appears that Malfoy won't be returning today and will be heading to the hospital wing," she said with a bit more positivity in her voice. "Which leaves Slytherin a Chaser down and probably their best one at that. But it looks like Malfoy is back on his feet and we wish him a speedy recovery."

The crowd cheered and Rose let out a sigh of relief as Scorpius came into view. He was being propped up by Madam Pomfrey and Professor Simpson and seemed to be cradling his right arm as they made their way back up to the castle.

Erin tugged on Rose's arm, and she realized she was still standing. She sat next to her best friend, doing her best to focus on the game as it resumed play.

"He's going to be fine," Erin assured her. "And I know all you want to do is rush to his side, but they wouldn't even let you in right now. Would you rather wait here or outside the hospital wing?"

Rose took a deep breath and let it out in agitation.

"Okay, you're right," Rose relented. "I'd probably go spare waiting in the corridor."

So she stayed in her seat next to Erin but hardly enjoyed a second of the remaining minutes of the match. Slytherin was struggling with the absence of one of their Chasers, and Hufflepuff continued to pull ahead. It wasn't until Slytherin was losing by a score of one hundred and seventy to fifty that Al finally managed to spot the Snitch. There was a moment of tension as he sped off towards where it was hovering in the middle of the pitch, and he weaved spectacularly through the other players before snatching it out of the air. Slytherin cheered rambunctiously, Erin and Rose right along with them.

"And Slytherin just managing to scrape out a win!" Mandy said with excitement. "Final score two hundred to one hundred and seventy to Slytherin, putting them solidly in the lead for the Quidditch Cup!"

The Slytherin team had huddled in the middle of the pitch, still in the air, and Erin continued to holler and cheer along with the other Slytherins. Even though her thoughts were with the injured Chaser in the hospital wing, Rose couldn't help laughing at her best friend's enthusiasm and clapping along with her.

A moment later, Al broke away from his team, his eyes searching the stands before he spotted them. Erin started pushing through the slowly dispersing crowd to get to the edge of the stands as Al flew towards them. He was beaming as he came to hover next to them.

"You were brilliant!" Erin said as she reached him, leaning over the stands and throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. Al was able to only wrap one around her waist as he kept a firm grip on his broom with the other. Rose was hit with the reality once again that her cousin and her best friend were actually head over heels for each other as she took in the sight of Erin wearing a Slytherin jersey with 'Potter' spelled across the back. Something Rose never saw her best friend doing in a million years.

Al pulled back a bit and kissed her quickly, his expression euphoric as he pulled his arm back from around her waist. He held his hand in front of her, which was still clasped tightly around the Snitch.

"Can you do me a favor?" he asked somewhat breathlessly. Erin nodded. Al opened his hand until he was just holding the fluttering golden ball between his thumb and his forefinger.

"Will you hold onto this?" he said with a staggeringly charming smile. Rose didn't blame Erin at all for the equally shocked and pleased expression on her face as she nodded and wrapped her hand around both the Snitch and his fingers as she leaned in and kissed him again.

"I'm going to talk to the team and clean myself up," Al said as he broke away from her. "I'll meet you both at the Hospital Wing?"

Rose nodded as Al gave her a reassuring smile before flying off towards the changing rooms, leaving Rose and an elated Erin to head back up to the castle.

They walked mostly in silence, Erin doing her best to keep up with Rose as she walked at an almost alarmingly fast pace, images flashing through her mind of Scorpius injured and bloody and in pain. When the open Hospital Wing doors came into view at the end of the corridor, Rose broke into a run.

* * *

 **A/N: Once again, sorry for the delay. And now sorry for the slight cliffhanger! I'll try not take as long to update this time :) I've been trying to write ahead and I'm not as far ahead as I would like, but it's coming along! This story is starting to reach the end, but I have plans of writing a few sequels. So we'll see how that goes. Thanks for your reviews! Can't wait to hear what you think about this chapter :)**


	47. All these places have their moments

She could hear Erin calling her name and trying to keep up with her, but her thoughts were completely focused on the boy at the far end of the hall that she suddenly felt she needed to get to as fast as possible.

Rose came to an abrupt halt when she reached the Hospital Wing, scanning the many beds for Scorpius. She felt a strange mix of relief and anxiety when she saw him on a bed at the far end of the room, sitting up and shirtless as Madam Pomfrey wrapped bandages and a sling around his heavily bruised shoulder.

She did her best not to run as she moved past the other beds and towards his, ignoring the few other occupants of the Hospital Wing. Scorpius didn't notice her until she was halfway to him, and a surprised smile appeared on his face before being replaced by a look of concern as Rose broke into a run once again.

When she finally reached him, her hands immediately went to either side of his face, barely registering Madam Pomfrey's instructions to be gentle with him as she searched his features, noting a few scratches that were mostly healed, but reassuring herself that he was otherwise, in fact, okay.

"You alright?" Scorpius asked, his words laced with concern as his hand went up to brush her cheek.

It was then that Rose realized she was crying. The thought seemed to ground her a bit, and she let out a relieved laugh.

"I should be asking you that," she said, feeling a bit ridiculous as she drew her hands away from his face and wiped at her tears, her gaze drifting to his arm.

"Dislocated," he said, looking down at his shoulder and flexing his hand as Madam Pomfrey shuffled away towards a table of potions. "It's been reset and the bruising should go down within the next few hours and so will the swelling. Hurts like hell, though."

Rose nodded as Madam Pomfrey came back over with a vial of potion in her hand.

"This is for the pain," she said as she set it on the table by his bed, "and it will make you very drowsy. You have five minutes, and then you're taking it and getting some rest."

"Do I have to stay the night?" Scorpius asked, seeming not too thrilled by the prospect.

"No, Mr. Malfoy," she assured him. "The potion should allow you to sleep for a few hours while the majority of your healing occurs, and then you'll be free to go. But keep that sling on for twenty-four hours so we're sure everything is set back in place."

Scorpius sighed and checked the clock on the wall as the Healer moved to attend to one of her other patients.

"I should be able to catch the last bit of the victory party," he said, sounding a bit disappointed. "We did win, right?"

Rose nodded, and he let out a sigh of relief, though there was disappointment there as well.

"It was your last match," Rose said in realization. "I'm so sorry."

He gave a bit of a shrug, or as close to one as he could in his condition.

"It's alright. Went out with a bit of a bang, didn't I?"

He was smiling, obviously doing his best to not let it get to him, but Rose had been making a huge effort to keep her emotions in check, and they all came rushing back to the surface.

Before she knew it, she was crying again, and her arms were gently winding their way around his neck as she buried her face against his good shoulder. Scorpius immediately put his uninjured arm around her waist and pulled her closer, his legs on either side of her as he sat on the bed.

"What's wrong, Rosie?" he whispered into her ear, his voice calm and soothing as he rubbed her back comfortingly.

"I - I don't know," she managed to get out through her tears. "I guess I was worried, and I just had to sit there and assume you were alright without really knowing it, and Ethan's in the hospital so I was already on edge even though he's going to be fine, and you barely even got to play in your last match which isn't fair, and I guess it was just a lot to handle."

The words had tumbled out, but she immediately felt lighter, realizing how little she truly had to worry about.

"I'm fine, love," he reassured her, and Rose nearly melted at his words and the soft tone they were delivered in. Her panic no longer present, she was able to register the fact that she was pressed very close to her boyfriend's bare chest, and the warmth she felt while being held in his arms was something she knew she was going to crave the moment it was gone. He squeezed her tighter before pulling back to look at her. He brushed her tears away with his thumb as Rose sniffled, doing her best to regain her composure with as much dignity as possible.

"I know," she said, leaning her cheek into his hand. "I just sort of panicked when you crashed and all the sudden I couldn't see you. I think I was in shock until just now."

He smiled softly as she chuckled, feeling a bit foolish.

"Sorry," she said. "You shouldn't be worrying about me when you're the one who's hurt."

"Don't apologize," he said dismissively. "It's nice to know you care."

"Of course I do," said Rose, doing her best not to smile at his teasing grin. His eyes held a mixture of mischief and gratitude, and she was captivated by them.

And suddenly she was kissing him, and she wasn't sure who'd leaned in first, but it didn't matter. His hand was in her hair, and she was doing her best not to cause him any more pain as her arms tightened around his neck. It was a comforting embrace that had the tension pouring out of Rose, but there was a sense of urgency to it that she couldn't recall ever being present before. She would have very much liked to explore it more, but the sound of someone loudly clearing their throat made her pull away.

"Time's up, Miss Weasley," Madam Pomfrey said briskly, slight amusement lacing her words as she moved to turn down Scorpius' bed.

Rose smiled at Scorpius through her embarrassment, which immediately started to melt away when she saw how he was looking at her. He didn't seem to care at all that they'd just shared an intimate moment in front of other people. His smile was giddy, and his eyes were sparkling with mirth.

"You look good in green," he said, tugging on the scarf around her neck as she chuckled.

"You'll go to the victory party?" he asked, his hand smoothing down her hair before resting on her waist as she nodded.

"Al was supposed to meet us here, so I'll try and find him and Erin, who I seemed to have lost," she said, looking over her shoulder in search of her best friend. Scorpius kissed her on the cheek rather than responding, and Rose turned back to look at him, his expression more somber now.

"I'm sorry I scared you," he said sincerely. "I'll try not to do that again."

And Rose tried not to let anxiety overtake her as images flashed across her mind of Scorpius injured once again, but this time after an Auror mission, some of them minor and some as severe as she'd seen her father endure. Shoving it all aside, she smiled at him, brushing her lips against his in a gentle kiss before stepping away.

"It would be fantastic if you didn't," she said with what she hoped was a reassuring smile, giving him a small wave and a promise to see him in a few hours before heading out of the Hospital Wing.

She was immediately met by a smirking Erin and an uncomfortable looking Al, who were leaning against the wall when she reached the corridor.

"What?" she asked uncertainly as the door closed behind her.

"Nothing," Erin said with an innocent shrug as she pushed herself off the wall. "How is he?"

"Fine," Rose said with a sigh before going on to explain the injuries Scorpius had sustained and that he'd be joining them later for the victory party.

"I just feel bad he barely got to play in his last match," Rose lamented as they started to head down the corridor. "He seems in pretty good spirits, though."

Erin let out an amused snort. "I would be too if I'd had a snog like that."

Rose immediately felt her face heating up, her hands going to her cheeks in an attempt to either shield her blush or will it to go away.

"You saw that?" she asked, not even attempting to hide the embarrassment in her voice. Erin laughed good naturedly.

"I waited out here for Al so you could have a moment. He got here right about then, and we thought it best not to interrupt."

Erin had a very pleased smile on her face, while Al looked like he'd rather be discussing anything else.

"I'd rather not relive it," he said. "It wasn't exactly fun to watch my best mate snogging my cousin."

"You bloody hypocrite!" Rose said in indignation. "Do you know how many times I've had to put up with my best friend snogging you? And you don't even _try_ to be subtle about it, so you've got no room to complain. And don't you dare say it's different since I'm a girl."

Erin laughed at Al's look of chagrin, linking her arm through his and smirking at him.

"You've got to admit, she makes a very fair point."

Al rolled his eyes and let out a sigh, meeting Rose's challenging gaze as they grew closer to the Slytherin common room.

"Fine," he relented. "I'll lay off. But don't think I won't hit him if he hurts you."

Rose could only smirk as she responded.

"You do that and I'll hit you right back."

* * *

Scorpius didn't make it back to the Slytherin common room until late in the evening, but Rose and Erin had waited for him and stuck around for another hour after he showed up, the four of them claiming seats by the fire as the party began to die down. Rose stayed near him as he received people's congratulations and inquiries about his injury, and even sat close to him on the couch, snuggling into his side so he had no choice but to put his uninjured arm around her. Not that he was complaining, but he couldn't help but notice some of the looks they were given.

He didn't want to let it bother him, and it wasn't what people might be thinking that was getting to him. It was more that they cared at all and thought it was okay to have any type of opinion on the subject. He was dating a Weasley, and Rose was dating a Malfoy. Why should that matter to anyone? They'd been friends since their fourth year. It shouldn't be that big of a surprise to see them together.

"I just don't want anyone giving you a hard time," he explained to Rose as they worked their way towards the back of the library. A few Ravenclaw students had stared at them as they walked hand in hand down the corridor, and he'd let out a frustrated sigh, cluing Rose into his mounting annoyance at their fellow students.

"I'll just give them detention if they do," Rose said, brushing aside his concerns with a small smile.

"I'm being serious," he said as they dumped their bags on an empty table and sat next to each other. "What if Shepard comes back today and decides to be an arse again? Or Prince manages to corner you? I don't want to even think about what he would do or say."

"Scor, I can handle myself," she assured him, reaching forward and resting her hand over his where it was clenched in a fist on the table. "I'm a witch, remember? And I'm not keen on putting up with anyone's shitty opinions when it comes to you and me."

Scorpius couldn't help but grin slightly at that. "I know. And I guess I'm more disappointed and frustrated that it's happening than I am worried you won't be able to handle yourself."

Rose gave him a sympathetic smile, her hand moving to trace up his bare arm and towards his shoulder.

"Does it still hurt?" she asked, pushing back the sleeve of his T-shirt to examine his still healing injury. Her expression showed concern as her thumb lightly brushed the still fading bruise. Scorpius did his best not to react to her tender touch, but there was nothing he could do about the shiver that ran through him or the way the hair on his arms stood on end.

"I'm not going to feel pain ever again if you keep doing that," he told her honestly, grinning as she blushed and pulled her hand away.

Scorpius glanced around the room, making sure they were alone before he moved his chair close enough to hers that he could rest his arm along the back of it. He trailed his hand up her shoulder and her neck and into her hair, pleased to see her let out a shiver of her own. Her brown eyes were roaming over his face as he began to move closer, fully intent on kissing her.

"I made rules," she blurted out, turning her face away from him at the last moment so his lips landed just below her ear. Scorpius let out a sound of frustration and was about to pull away, when he heard and felt Rose give a sharp intake of breath.

He hesitated for all of two seconds before placing a soft kiss where his lips had landed. He smiled into her skin, noting how much her breathing had picked up. Detangling his hand from her hair, he brought it around so he could push her red locks back behind her shoulder and give himself better access.

"Scor?" she said hesitantly, and he hummed in response before slowly beginning to trail kisses down her neck, reveling in the softness of her pale, lightly freckled skin. They were drifting into uncharted territory, and it wasn't until Rose reminded him that they were in the library that he even stopped to think about the fact that they weren't truly alone.

"Right," he said, placing one last kiss behind her ear before pulling back to look at her. It was impossible for him to contain a grin when he took in her flushed face. "Want to head back to the common room?"

"No," she said with an amused chuckle. "We have to finish both of the essays that are due tomorrow."

Scorpius gave a grunt of frustration and looked at his watch. "Can't it wait till after lunch? We still have a few hours to kill till then."

Rose shook her head, reaching into her bag and pulling out a piece of parchment that appeared to contain a list. "I told you. I made rules."

"Rules?" he said skeptically, and Rose handed over the piece of parchment, seeming a bit proud of herself. Scorpius scanned the first few items before what he was looking at registered.

"This says I'm not allowed to touch you unless someone's health or life is at risk," he said uncertainly.

"When we're doing homework or revising, yes," she said matter-of-factly. "I know we talked about setting some boundaries so we don't get too distracted, so I took the liberty of writing down what I think are the best practices for us to keep to."

Scorpius did his best to refrain from smiling in amusement at how seriously she was taking this and turned his attention back to the list instead.

"You can't be serious," he said, growing indignant as he saw the parameters she'd put on their relationship. "I'm not even allowed to talk to you unless it's about homework? We've talked about all sort of things for years while studying together and it hasn't been a problem."

"Yes, but it's different now," Rose insisted.

"And I have to follow these rules even when you're studying and I'm not?" he asked in astonishment, looking back at the list once again.

"Well, you can't deny that you'd do your best to get around these rules by claiming you're not doing any work," she said defensively. "I had to make sure you didn't have any loopholes."

Scorpius shook his head in amused disbelief. "I'll still find one."

Rose gave a huff of annoyance before snatching the list out of his hands and folding it before sticking it between the pages of a notebook. Scorpius watched as she began looking through the books she'd brought with her, finding the ones she needed for whatever she was about to work on.

"When does 'official homework and revising time' start?" he asked with a sigh, sitting back in his chair in resignation.

"Now," she said, flipping open _Standard Book of Spells, Grade Seven._ "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't mock me."

"I'm not mocking you," Scorpius said sincerely, leaning forward and placing his arm on the back of her chair once again. "It's actually quite flattering, really."

Rose's gaze was fixed on her spell book, but she briefly looked sideways at him in question. "How?"

"Well," Scorpius said, doing his best not to smirk, "I must have quite the effect on you if you have to go to these lengths to ensure I don't become a distraction."

It took everything in him not to grin at the blush that rose to her cheeks, her eyes focused back on her book as she did her best not to react.

"You're breaking rule number one," she managed to force out. Scorpius chuckled, watching her silently for a few moments before he began rhythmically tapping his fingers on the back of her chair, a habit he'd developed over the years as an alternative to touching her when he found it very hard to resist doing so. For some reason, the tapping made Rose take in a sharp breath, freezing before her gaze flew to his. Her eyes were questioning and curious and slightly in awe.

"What?" he asked as he stilled his hand, completely captivated by her warm brown eyes as they searched his.

"Do you remember the end of last year?" she asked a bit hesitantly. "There was a day when we were in here studying, and we talked about making things count."

The memory flashed clearly to the forefront of Scorpius' mind. He remembered it perfectly. They'd been sitting near a window, and the beautiful June day had been so tempting, but Rose even more captivating. His feelings had been growing for Rose over the course of their sixth year, even though he supposed there'd always been something in their friendship that was different than the ones he had with Erin or any of Rose's cousins. There were ways he'd always noticed her. Even before they were friends. But something had changed the summer before their sixth year. He'd changed. He'd finally let her in enough to no longer be scared of not being accepted, and it had opened up so many possibilities that he'd been afraid to want before then.

He sat on his feelings all of sixth year, and that day in the library was the closest he'd come to revealing the truth.

"Yeah," he said softly. "I remember."

Rose turned to face him, giving up on her homework and breaking her own rules. "Before Al walked in and interrupted us, you were going to say something. And I talked myself into thinking it was nothing, but it was the first time I ever thought that, maybe…"

She was watching him uncertainly, chewing on her lower lips and hoping she wouldn't have to fully ask a question.

"I guess we haven't really talked about all this," he said in realization.

"All what?"

"I mean," he began, trying to formulate his thoughts into words, "we both know how we feel now, and that there's been something there since at least Halloween. I mean, that was the first time I ever knew for sure that you felt something beyond friendship for me, but we haven't exactly talked about when that all started. For either of us."

"You didn't know until Halloween?" Rose asked in surprise. Scorpius shook his head.

"And even then I only had an inkling."

Rose's mouth was open in shock, and Scorpius gave her a warm smile. "And I've already told you I second guessed all of that after what happened before Christmas."

"I know," she said with a sigh. "But just so you know, it started long before then."

"How long?" he couldn't help but ask, and Rose's cheeks turned slightly pink.

"I don't know," she said timidly, giving a noncommittal shrug. And Scorpius decided to completely throw out all of her rules, reaching forward to cover her hands with his where they were clasped together tightly in her lap. Her eyes met his, and he did his best to offer reassurance. Whatever she saw in his eyes seemed to be enough.

"I didn't really notice it until last Christmas," she started, her voice quiet but her gaze steady, "during out sixth year. I remember going home for the holidays, and it wasn't even a few hours before I was wondering what you were doing and wishing I could see you. I spent those first few days trying to figure out why I missed you so much, and then it clicked when we saw each other during the Christmas festival in Diagon Alley."

"Is that why you were so quiet?" he asked in surprised amusement. "I wondered what was bothering you."

" _You_ were bothering me," she said, her tone slightly teasing as she held his hand in both of hers. "I guess that was when it started, but I didn't really let myself fully acknowledge it until this summer. It was actually during a conversation I had with James."

"James?" Scorpius said incredulously. Rose laughed at his shocked expression.

"We were talking about Violet. It was right before they started dating, and he needed some advice. I told him I understood why Violet wasn't saying anything to him, seeing as I was determined not to say anything to you."

"Wait," he said. "The same day that I was there and he talked about coming up with a plan?"

"The very same," she said with a nod. "You and Al were in the kitchen."

Scorpius could hardly believe he'd been messing around in the kitchen with Al while the girl he had feelings for was in the other room, talking to her cousin about the fact that she had feelings for him as well.

"What about you?" she asked. "This whole conversation started because I wanted to know what you were planning on saying that day in the library."

"Ah," Scorpius said, bracing himself for this. It could go one of two ways. She'd either be understanding and let it go because everything had worked out in the end, or she'd be frustrated that he'd wound up dragging his feet. "I believe the whole sentence was going to be along the lines of wanting to make the most of today and making the moments count."

He paused and she watched him expectantly, knowing there was more.

"And then I was going to ask if I could kiss you."

His heart was pounding and his mind was racing. And Rose stared at him for what felt like an eternity before she spoke.

"And I would've said yes."

Scorpius couldn't help it. She'd spoken with such conviction and even a hint of regret, and he knew she meant it. His grip on her hands tightened as he leaned forward and his mouth claimed hers with something close to desperation.

As many times as Scorpius had kissed Rose Weasley in the three weeks they'd been together, he still found the feelings that rushed through him every time he did so almost impossible to describe. It felt right. It felt like he'd found something he didn't know he'd been missing and now couldn't imagine being without. It felt like he'd never get enough.

He wound his free hand into her hair, reveling in being able to finally run his fingers through the bright red locks he'd admired for so long. It was softer than he'd imagined, and he didn't mind the fact that it had a mind of its own.

He worried for a moment that he'd kissed her a little too forcefully, but then her mouth moved eagerly under his and she pulled his lower lip between her own. He felt a shiver run down his spine at the new sensation, and he nearly gasped in surprise when her tongue came in contact with his lip for the first time.

Scorpius tightened his grip on her hair and moved his mouth hungrily against hers. She tasted like ginger tea and the cinnamon roll she'd eaten at breakfast, and whatever the flowery scent was that she always smelled of was overwhelming his senses. Following Rose's lead, he ran his tongue along her upper lip, causing her to part them and let out a light moan. He gladly took the opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth, doing his best not to become overwhelmed by the new sensations he was experiencing as his tongue made contact with hers.

They sunk further into the kiss until she had to pull away to breath.

"You're not angry?" he asked, his face still close to hers as they both breathed heavily. "That I waited so long?"

Rose took a few moments to calm her breathing before she shook her head. "No. I think everything happened the way it was supposed to. If we'd gotten together then, I don't think we'd be here now. Our friendship was able to get through everything this year, but I'm not sure a relationship would have."

Scorpius nodded, watching Rose closely as she chewed on her lower lip, tempting him to pull it between his own teeth. "That makes me feel better."

"It should," Rose said with a smirk. "You really would've missed out if you'd lost me."

"Don't even joke about that."

This time, he kissed her even more forcefully, giving into his earlier temptation to pull her lower lip between his teeth. She responded enthusiastically, and it was a battle for dominance as lips and tongues tangled together.

At some point, Rose had dropped his hands and was now gripping his arms, but he'd been so preoccupied that he hadn't noticed until her grip tightened and she pulled him roughly forward, causing pain to shoot through his still healing shoulder.

Rose released him and pulled away as soon as she felt him flinch and heard him wince in pain, which he'd tried very hard to stifle.

"Are you alright?" she asked, concern lacing her words as she breathed heavily. Her face was flushed red as her eyes focused in on his shoulder.

"I'm fine," he assured her, moving to pull her closer again, his hand still tangled in her hair. But Rose pulled away and gently laid her hands on his arm. With a sigh, he withdrew his hand from her hair and allowed her to lower it to his lap.

"I don't want you to hurt yourself more."

"I won't," he insisted, even though he could still feel where the pain had shot through him. "It'll be completely back to normal by this time tomorrow."

"Not if you make it worse."

"There's really no point in arguing with you, is there?" he asked, somewhat annoyed that she'd been so quick to pull away.

"Can you blame me for wanting to take care of you?" she asked timidly, and there was no way he could continue to be annoyed with her. He experimentally rolled his shoulders, the dull ache reminding him that he probably shouldn't over exert himself.

"I suppose not," he allowed. "And you're right, I need to take it easy. But it's easier said than done. Especially when you're involved."

She chuckled lightly before her smile suddenly fell away. "It was my fault, anyway. I'm the one who got a little carried away."

She reached out and stroked his arm, and Scorpius was surprised to see tears gathering in her eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, his hand going up to cup her cheek and force her eyes to his.

"It's harder than I'd thought it'd be," she said quietly. "Seeing you hurt."

Scorpius tried to ignore the way his stomach dropped a bit at her words. He'd been worried about this. Ever since she'd broken down in the Hospital Wing over a Quidditch injury the day before, it had been in the back of his mind.

Maybe she really wouldn't be able to handle the somewhat dangerous path his life was heading down. It was true that the Aurors didn't face the same dangers that her father and uncle had, but that didn't mean nothing could ever happen to him. There was still evil in the world and people who practiced it. Dark magic wasn't eradicated with the Death Eaters, and they weren't even positive they'd all been caught. Scorpius didn't know what he'd face, but he knew he was prepared to do whatever he could to make the world a safer place. For his family, for himself, and for Rose. But that didn't mean she was willing to stand by and watch him risk his life everyday.

"I know what you're thinking," she said, much more composed as she gave him a harsh look, "and you need to stop it."

Scorpius dropped his hand from her face with a sigh, rubbing his eyes as he sat back in his chair.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "Force of habit."

"Well, work on breaking that particular habit," she said, her attitude straightforward. "I'm not going anywhere."

He dropped his hand from his face to see she'd turned to face the table again, her spellbook in front of her once more.

"That's as much as we're talking about this?" he asked uncertainly. She nodded.

"Seeing as it's possibly going to take you awhile to get over your insecurities, and that I have no intention of walking away, yes, that's as much as we're going to talk about this."

Scorpius grimaced at her rather frustrated tone. She started flipping through her book, and he sighed, his arm going to the back of her chair as he leaned forward so he could place a gentle kiss on her cheek. Rose didn't even stop in her task at the action.

"I'm sorry I let myself doubt sometimes," he said sincerely. "It's just a little surreal to me that this is actually my life now."

"What is?" she asked hesitantly, having stilled in her movements at his apology, though her eyes were still focused on the book in front of her.

"Me and you," he said honestly. "I've wanted it for a long time, and I suppose I'm just a bit terrified of losing it. You've always been special to me, even before I really knew it. And once I let myself fall for you, I knew there was no going back. It can be a bit terrifying to trust someone not to break your heart."

Her gaze shifted up to his, a tender smile gracing her beautiful mouth. "I won't break yours if you won't break mine."

He smiled, reassured and feeling a bit silly for worrying in the first place. "Deal."

She smiled brilliantly at him, and Scorpius leaned in to kiss her, but found himself blocked by her hand on his mouth.

"What?" he said with a frustrated groan, the sound muffled by her hand. She chuckled and shook her head at him.

"That's enough rule breaking for one day," she said as she dropped her hand from his mouth, turning to face her homework with a small smile on her face. Scorpius sighed, finally reaching for his bag and pulling out his own books.

"Fine. But I have a feeling you broke just as many as I did."

* * *

 **A/N: So much ScoRose. Hope you loved it as much as I did :) I actually have a list of about seven rules that Rose made up that I'll potentially bring up again and use later, but I'm also open for any wonderful suggestions that you might have!**

 **Also, I've had a few comments about wanting to see more Ethan and Molly, and I actually have some stuff written. I'm just figuring out how I'd like to post it. I've been trying to keep Snapshots of Faith in as chronological an order as possible, and this would throw that all out of whack. So I'm deciding between giving them their own story, or just deciding not to care about the order of things. Either way, you'll probably see something from them soon! I have one scene written with plans for a few more, and then about nine thousand words worth of letters between the two. So lots for you to look forward too!**

 **Happy Reading!**


	48. You're so ambitious for a juvenile

The school year was quickly coming to an end, and with it, Rose's time at Hogwarts. She'd be sitting her N.E.W.T.s in just a few weeks, and then it was time to head out into the real world. But they still had some time left, and Rose was intent on soaking up every last moment she could in the castle that had been home to her for seven years.

Not that she had much time to do anything other than write essays and revise for exams and perform her duties as Head Girl. There were a few times over the past few weeks when she'd felt able to take a bit of a break, but she and Al and Erin and Scorpius had mostly occupied their time with homework, which was wearing on all of them.

It came as a relief when the final Quidditch match of the season took place, giving them something else to focus on for a day. Al had reminded them more times than Rose could count that all Gryffindor had to do was score three hundred and ninety points to beat Slytherin and take the cup. Not that he found it likely, but they all knew he'd be agitated until either Lily or Patrick Allen caught the Snitch.

"That's only twenty-four goals, and if Lily does her best to avoid catching the Snitch, and they keep Patrick from doing it, they could make it happen," he insisted during breakfast the morning of the match. Scorpius had done his part in engaging Al in conversation about Quidditch, but Rose could tell his heart wasn't truly in it. Not that he didn't care whether or not they won the cup, but he'd already started to move on.

The boys had somewhat begrudgingly agreed to sit with Erin and Rose in the Gryffindor stands, but they ended up thoroughly enjoying watching the match together. Even though Al refused to cheer on his rivals.

Gryffindor's game plan appeared to be just as Al predicted. Caleb was doing an excellent job of guarding the hoops, and Ravenclaw had only managed to score five goals over an hour in. Gryffindor, on the other hand, had managed to score twelve. Alec Turner and his fellow Beater, Cole Sawyer, were doing a fantastic job of keeping Patrick Allen on his toes. And Miranda, Louis, and Devon - whom Rose had been surprised to see take the pitch - were operating like a well oiled machine.

The match dragged on and the sun grew higher in the sky as the warmth of spring made itself known. Rose eventually had to take off the light jacket she'd worn, and enjoyed the rays of sun hitting her pale skin. Gryffindor was now leading with a score of two hundred and ten to one hundred, and Al was practically beside himself.

"They only need three more goals, and then she can catch the Snitch," he said in agony, his head hanging between his knees and his hands gripping his hair. "I can't believe this is fucking happening."

Erin and Rose were doing their best to ignore him as they cheered on their house team, even though Rose knew they'd both feel horrible for Al if Gryffindor managed to pull off an outstanding victory.

"And another ten points to Gryffindor!" Mandy Jordan hollered into her megaphone. "Just two more goals before Potter can catch the Snitch and claim the cup for Gryffindor."

Al let out a groan and looked up, his elbows on his knees and his hands on either side of his face as his eyes followed the match. Ravenclaw managed to get in two more goals, and Rose could tell the Gryffindor Chasers were starting to get tired, and so was Caleb. But they managed to rally and score once more. The next goal would put them in the position to tie Slytherin.

The energy around the pitch was heightened more than Rose could ever remember it being before. The Slytherins and the Ravenclaws were hollering for Patrick to catch the Snitch, the Gryffindors were making themselves hoarse cheering on their Chasers, and the Hufflepuffs were having a grand old time enjoying the excitement as Miranda scored another goal for Gryffindor. If Lily caught the Snitch now, it would be a tie.

But then Patrick had suddenly spotted the Snitch and Lily hadn't. And the Slytherins and Ravenclaws erupted in cheers as he sped after it across the pitch, Lily hot on his heels, but a few yards away. And Caleb let in one more goal before the Quaffle ended up with Louis, who took off down the pitch. But even as it soared through the hoops a few seconds later, it didn't matter. Patrick's hand closed around the Snitch, and he shot up into the sky with his fist raised in the air, the seas of blue and green cheering louder than Rose could remember ever hearing in her life.

Not only had Gryffindor lost their chance at the cup, but Ravenclaw had won the match by ten points, and successfully knocked Gryffindor down to third place, landing the blow even harder.

It was a painful sight to watch the Gryffindor Quidditch team as they hovered in shock before they each slowly made their way to their locker room while the Slytherins and Ravenclaws celebrated.

"This is going to be one brutal end of season party," Scorpius said as they watched Lily chuck her broom on the ground before storming into the locker room. While most of the matches typically had a victory party thrown in the respective house common rooms, the last match was always followed by a party in the joint common room. Rose just hoped that no one would cause any trouble, what with tensions running this high. Al was currently beside himself with relief and joy. His hands were stretched out on either side as he tipped his head back and looked unseeingly at the clear blue sky, his eyes closed and his smile wide as he basked in his now secured victory.

"You're ridiculous," Erin said with a roll of her eyes, batting down Al's arm that was stretched out in front of her. But she smiled and grabbed his hand a moment later and began pulling him out of the stands and down to the pitch where the rest of the Slytherin team had already started to gather as the Cup was being brought out. Rose felt Scorpius grab her hand a moment later before following after them. She dropped his hand and move to stand off to the side with Erin while the Slytherin team and many other members of the house gathered in the center of the pitch, celebrating enthusiastically as Al was handed the cup by Madam Hooch, raising it up in the air with a euphoric smile on his face as a greater cheer broke out and the team crowded around to get a hand on the cup.

Rose was momentarily distracted from the celebrations by the sight of Louis storming out of the changing room, slamming the door behind him as he went and heading up to the castle.

"That can't be good," said Erin, who'd noticed Louis as well.

"My family is too competitive for their own good," Rose said with a sigh. "I really hope I don't have to break up any fights amongst my own cousins tonight."

Erin chuckled. "Hopefully Al will know to leave well enough alone and not antagonize his sister."

"It wouldn't hurt for you to warn him against it," said Rose, not even able to deny that she was worried about this very thing. "Want to go ahead and head back up to the castle?" she asked as pictures began to be taken of the Slytherin Quidditch team. "We should probably at least do some commiserating with our house before we let ourselves celebrate with Al and Scorp tonight."

Erin nodded in agreement, and they made their way up to the castle, heading towards the Gryffindor common room. It was eerily silent when they entered, only a few students lounging around with somber looks on their faces. Seeing no one from the Quidditch team, they only hung around for a few minutes, exchanging a few words with their fellow housemates about the rotten outcome of the match, but agreeing that everyone played fantastic, which seemed to be the general consensus. Yes, it was disappointing that the match had ended the way it did, but the Gryffindor team had played some spectacular Quidditch. Rose could only hope that the team was able to see it that way as well.

Erin and Rose were about to head back through the portrait hole, when Devon Shepard entered the common room. He looked exhausted and defeated, most likely in more ways than one. When he spotted them, Rose tensed, feeling Erin doing the same beside her. They hadn't spoken or even interacted since he'd returned to the castle, and Rose had no clue what to expect. But he surprised her when he gave a sad smile and stopped in front of them.

"Sorry about the match," Erin said after an awkward beat of silence. "You flew well."

He gave a nod in thanks. "Not exactly the way I wanted my Quidditch career to end, but it's alright. There are more important things, yeah?'

Rose found herself offering him a small smile as she nodded.

"Bet those boyfriends of yours are right chuffed, though," he said, but the malice and judgment she was used to hearing in his voice wasn't present. There was actually something teasing about his tone. Rose found herself smiling brighter.

"Just a bit. We're going to do our best to keep them from gloating too much."

Shepard actually chuckled at this. "It's going to be an uncomfortable enough after party as it is. Randy is forcing us all to go in the spirit of good sportsmanship," he said with a roll of his eyes. "Don't know why she thinks that's a good idea. She almost had to pull Weasley off of Wood."

"What?" Rose and Erin both asked in astonishment.

"Yeah, things got a little tense in the locker room," he said, a little too nonchalantly for Rose's liking. "I don't think I've ever seen Weasley lose his cool like that."

Rose let this information sink in. Cracks had already started to form in the relationships and friendships of some of her cousins and friends, and this was just one more.

"Anyway," Shepard continued, "I suppose I'll see you at the party."

He moved to walk away, but something else had popped into Rose's mind at the last minute, and she found herself acting before she'd even fully thought it through.

"Wait," she said as he moved to walk past her. He gave her an uncertain look as she watched him almost nervously. "I'm so sorry about your sister."

The true pain that he was experiencing due to his loss appeared on his face, but his expression turned cold a second later. He gave Rose a curt nod, his face schooled to be as blank as possible.

"Thanks, Weasley," were his only words, before he moved past them and towards the stairs that led to the boys' dormitories. Erin let out an exaggerated sigh of relief."Let's head to the joint common room," she said. "The boys will be there soon."

There were already a handful of Slytherins and Ravenclaws when they arrived at the after party, and even a few Hufflepuffs. No one else had shown up from Gryffindor, and Rose was surprised to find herself approached by Riley Clarke.

They'd been getting on better during their tutoring sessions, and there were the occasional times she'd sit with Rose and Scorpius at the Slytherin table, but neither had ever gone out of their way to be in each other's company. Especially since they'd recently hit a bit of a rough patch in their tutoring sessions once again, though Rose knew that was mostly her fault.

"Tough break for you lions," Riley said with a bit of a smirk. "Though you two probably aren't as miffed about it as the rest of them."

"We're still Gryffindors," Erin said with a roll of her eyes, her arms crossed over her chest. "Just because we're dating Slytherins doesn't mean we lost our house pride."

"So I didn't see you wearing a Slytherin jersey at the last match?" she asked haughtily, her raspy voice almost giving the question a sinister quality.

"Oh, bugger off," Erin grumbled, scowling at Riley before stomping away and towards the drink table.

"It really is just too easy with her," Riley said with an amused shake of her head before she too wandered off, leaving Rose to her own devices. She made her way towards the table of food, taking in the cake that must have been decorated last minute since it congratulated Slytherin on winning the Cup. After filling a plate with fruit and a few sweets, she chose a chair by one of the fires, noticing Jill and Molly on the couch with another Ravenclaw girl from their year.

"Wasn't that a fantastic match?" Jill said enthusiastically when Rose sat down. "I mean, sorry for you all, but still! Gryffindor played brilliantly. Everyone deserved to win the Cup this year. Except maybe Hufflepuff."

They all chuckled at this. Hufflepuff had failed to catch the Snitch in every match that year, even though they had a solid team otherwise.

As they continued chatting about various aspects of the game, Erin eventually came over to join them, and the party began to grow larger. The Ravenclaw team was the first to show up, greeted by an ample amount of applause. Gryffindor trailed in after, but not as a whole unit. It was slightly awkward as people noted Miranda, Alec, Devon, and Cole enter first, the applause stilted when it was made clear it was just the four of them. Lily and Caleb showed up a bit later with rather glum expressions, and Rose had either failed to notice when Louis arrived, or he hadn't yet.

When the Slytherin team finally made their appearance, just about everyone who was planning on coming was in attendance, and the Quidditch Cup champions received a well deserved cheer. Rose couldn't help scanning the crowd, noticing how Caleb was talking quietly to a distraught Lily in a corner of the room as Al gave the obligatory thanks and encouraged everyone to really get the party started. Music started playing as Rose continued to look around the room, realizing that a few other Gryffindors that she'd expected to see were also missing.

"Have either of you seen Hugo?" Rose asked Jill and Molly. They both shook their heads, but it was the girl who was sitting with them - whom Rose had found out was called Ruth - that spoke up.

"I saw him and Bobby Finnigan talking behind the stands when I came up to the castle," she said. Rose looked at the girl in surprise. She and Erin must have missed them.

"That's a bit odd," said Rose. "Where's Lucy?"

"With Charlotte," said Molly, nodding over to a crowd of Hufflepuffs. Rose followed Molly's line of sight just in time to see Corbin break away from his teammates and well wishers to approach Charlotte and pull her into his arms, kissing her soundly. A cheer went up from the Slytherins and even a few other bystanders. Lucy looked frozen in shock as she watched her best friend kiss the Slytherin back.

"Bloody hell!" Jill exclaimed. "Way to go, Charlotte!"

Laughter was heard as Jill's voice carried across the room, the pair pulling apart from their embrace and laughing as well.

"What's with this room and abrupt snogging?"

Rose smiled at Scorpius' words as he and Al approached their corner of the common room, Scorpius nudging Al in the ribs with his elbow while making the teasing remark.

"If I remember correctly," said Al, not at all bothered by Scorpius' comment, "I wasn't the one who did the snogging."

He plopped down on the arm of Erin's chair, smiling brightly at her and chuckling when her cheeks turned pink.

"I will say this," said Scorpius, surprising Rose by grabbing her hand and abruptly pulling her from her seat, "you were right about it not exactly being fun to watch your cousin snogging someone, so, if you'll excuse us."

Rose felt her face turning red in embarrassment as Scorpius pulled her away from the group that contained a few of her cousins, one of which let out a groan of annoyance. Scorpius led her through the common room and out the door, ignoring her less than enthusiastic protests.

"Scorp, we're Heads," she said as they made it to the corridor, and Rose stopped them as the door swung shut behind them. "Not only are we supposed to make sure things don't get out of control, but we're supposed to be setting a good example as well."

"And we are," he insisted, holding both of her hands in his and smiling mischievously at her. Rose gulped in nervous anticipation as he slowly backed her into the wall beside the door. "We're not snogging in public, are we?"

"Technically, we-"

She didn't get to finish saying that they were technically still in public, because Scorpius had apparently grown too impatient. His lips were firm against hers, and she felt him sigh into it, almost as if he'd been dying of thirst and he'd finally found relief. Rose couldn't help relaxing against the stone wall behind her, her body going a bit limp as he slowly moved his mouth against hers, his hands coming up to rest on her waist as hers sunk into his hair.

"I've missed you," he mumbled against her mouth, and she let out a hum in response before his words fully registered.

"What?" she asked, pulling back slightly to look at him curiously. "We see each other every day."

"Maybe," he said with a shrug, pushing a lock of her hair behind her ear. "But I feel like I haven't properly kissed you in weeks."

He had a point there. As much time as they'd been spending together working on homework and performing Head duties, the moment they'd had in the library was almost two weeks ago. Nothing close to that had happened since, though Rose could certainly blame herself for that.

"Sorry," she said, smoothing down the hair that was growing long and was starting to curl over his ears. "I suppose that's my fault for being so strict about study time."

"It's alright," said Scorpius, leaning in to press a chaste kiss to her lips. "I know it's important, and I'd like to have a career after school, so it's probably a good thing that you're forcing me to focus on my studies. I'm a bit too easily distracted these days."

Rose let out a giggle as he kissed her cheek, moving on from there to her jaw and then just below her ear. "Well," she managed to say, "I don't want you thinking you're not important, too. So how about we work on making room for more of this?"

He chuckled against her neck and Rose felt a shiver run down her spine. "Do you mean schedule time for snogging?"

"Absolutely," she said a bit breathlessly as he nipped at her skin with his teeth, "among other things."

He froze in his movements, and Rose only had a moment to wonder why he'd stopped before the implication of her words registered in her mind.

"Like talking," she said in a rush as Scorpius moved to look at her questioningly. "I was talking about talking. Because that's an important aspect of any relationship, you know."

He nodded, but there was a glint of amusement in his eyes as he did his best to hold in a smirk. Rose refrained from rolling her eyes, letting out a sigh and pulling him closer, her arms going to rest on his shoulders so her wrists crossed behind his neck.

"I wasn't under the impression that talking was what you wanted to do right now, though, was it?" she said teasingly. He gave an appreciative chuckle, bumping his nose against hers and snaking his arms between her back and the wall.

"Among other things," he mumbled, just before he kissed her again, cutting off the laugh that had started bubbling out of Rose at his words. But he let out a frustrated groan a moment later, and Rose looked at him in confusion as he pulled back.

Her question was answered a second later when she too picked up on the sound of footsteps and voices heading their way. They had just enough time to make sure they didn't look too out of sorts before Hugo and Bobby came around the corner. Rose was about to give a cheerful and innocent sounding greeting, when she noticed that they weren't just talking, they were arguing.

"I don't care, Finnigan," Hugo snapped, walking slightly ahead of his friend. "Not everything is about her, and she needs to bloody learn that."

"Hu-"

But Hugo threw a glare over his shoulder at his friend, shutting him up. They noticed Rose and Scorpius only a few moments later.

"What's going on?" asked Rose. Hugo's scowl didn't let up as he looked at his sister.

"None of your fucking business."

"Hey!" Scorpius said forcefully putting his hand to Hugo's chest and stopping him before he could enter the common room. Rose's brother looked Scorpius in the eye, his scowl lessening as he noted the stern look Scorpius wore. "No need to be a prat, yeah? Especially to her."

Hugo arched a brow at his comment. "Because she's your _girlfriend_?"

"Because she's your sister, _and_ your Head Girl. So watch the attitude."

Scorpius was practically snarling at him, and even though they were roughly the same height, Hugo seemed smaller as shame flickered across his face. He schooled his expression a moment later, glancing at Rose and mumbling an apology before looking at Scorpius pointedly. The Head Boy stepped aside almost reluctantly, allowing both boys to enter the common room, Bobby mumbling an apology as well, though his seemed a bit more sincere.

"He's been driving me mad with that attitude of his lately," Scorpius grumbled as he turned back to Rose. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine," said Rose, who was having a hard time not being impressed by how Scorpius had handled himself and how intimidating he'd been. It seemed that hardly a day went by anymore that it didn't cross her mind that he'd make a brilliant Auror.

"It's _not_ fine," he insisted, moving to stand in front of her, taking one of her hands in his and slipping his fingers between hers. "I don't…"

"Don't what?" Rose asked after he'd trailed off almost nervously. He heaved a heavy sigh.

"I don't like him talking to you like that," he said in a rush, his eyes directed at their joined hands. Rose felt a fluttering in her chest at his protective instincts, no matter how unfounded she thought they might be.

"I appreciate that," she said, tugging on his hand until he looked up at her, "but I can handle my prat of a brother. If anyone _else_ ever talks to me like that, though, feel free to stick up for me."

She was grinning at him, and his expression mirrored hers a moment later. He chuckled before bending down and placing one last kiss on her lips, slow, deliberate, and maddeningly short.

"We should head back in," he said apologetically, and Rose nodded in agreement, allowing him to lead her back into the common room. Which turned out to be not a moment too soon.

The door closed behind Rose and Scorpius just in time for them to see Bobby grab and hold back a fuming Hugo, while Caleb held back Lily. She was screaming profanities at her cousin, who was glaring daggers at her in return. Louis and Jill were standing opposite each other - Louis by Hugo, and Jill by Lily - and they were also screaming at each other. Caleb appeared to be involved in both arguments. Molly was standing somewhere between all of them, wringing her hands frantically as she appeared at a loss for what to do.

Rose could hardly make out what was being said over the music, but it was shut off a moment later with a wave of Scorpius' wand, and Lily's words were heard loud and clear.

"-immature prick!" she shrieked at Hugo. "I can't believe you're being this fucking selfish."

"I'm the one who's selfish?" he snapped back at her, straining against Bobby's hold. "You've barely pulled your head out of Wood's arse long enough to realize there are still other people in the world!"

Rose could barely make out the angry words that were being exchanged between Jill, Louis, and Caleb, but she caught a few of them every now and then. The general theme seemed to be that everyone was blaming everyone for everything. Whether it was their friendships, relationships, or the Quidditch match.

"Can't you just be happy for me?" Lily yelled. "I can't help it that you've got about as much relationship experience as a twelve year old, so don't take your insecurities out on me just because you're jealous! Maybe you should learn from my example and grow the hell up!"

Hugo was now fuming in anger, but no longer struggling against Bobby. He just glared at Lily, and the momentary silence allowed Rose to hear what the others were saying.

"He was bloody distracted because his fucking girlfriend was going after the Snitch, and he should have been watching the hoops instead of her," Louis bit out, pointing accusingly at a livid looking Caleb.

"That's not fair," said Jill, coming to Caleb's defense.

"Would you stay the fuck out of this?!" Louis asked, sounding like it hadn't been the first time he'd made such a request. "Go celebrate with the other bloody Ravenclaws and leave us the hell alone!"

Jill's face was red with anger and humiliation, and Caleb opened his mouth to retort, but Hugo was speaking again, and his words silenced everyone else.

"You self righteous bitch. Fuck you."

He'd practically spat the words at Lily, who's face turned white in shock at his words, all the anger draining from her face to be replaced with hurt. Rose watched as her brother shrugged out of Bobby's grip, which had grown slack due to his surprise at his best friend's words.

A moment later, Caleb had stepped around Lily and was quickly making his way towards Hugo with anger lighting every feature as he pulled his wand. Hugo had the good sense to pull his as well, completely throwing off Bobby as gasps and shouts were heard from the crowd. Caleb and Hugo were brandishing their wands at each other, and Rose felt there was nothing she could do other than helplessly watch it all unfold.

But then a giant shield charm appeared between the two boys, powered from two different directions and forcing both of them backwards. Scorpius had his wand out, holding up one end of the shield charm, with Al having appeared on the other side of the room doing the same.

"Right," said Scorpius, his voice resounding around the room as silence fell once again. "All of you," he said with a gesture towards the people on both sides of the shield charm, "are coming with us. And none of you are saying a word to each other until I say otherwise. Are we clear?"

They all watched Scorpius silently, a few giving nods before he and Al dropped their shield Charms. Rose opened the door, heading out of it as her cousins and their friends began to follow her.

She was beyond frustrated with Lily, and incredibly angry at her brother. Louis was behaving unreasonably as well, and who even knew what everyone else had done.

Rose led them to the prefect meeting room, which was only a few corridors from the joint common room. Scorpius instructed everyone to sit as they entered, his tone demanding nothing less than compliance. Hugo made an attempt to sit towards the back, but Scorpius stopped him before he could, roughly shoving him into a seat towards the front. Lily and Caleb sat on the other side of the room, Louis, Bobby, and Jill between them and Hugo. Rose perched herself on the edge of the desk at the front of the room, her hands gripping the edge as she did her best to keep from lashing out at all of them. This would have to mostly be left to Scorpius to handle. It was messy when she had to deal with her family.

"So" Scorpius began, leaning back next to Rose and against the desk, his arms folded as he glared at everyone. "Does anyone have anything they'd like to say for themselves that won't sound like a pathetic attempt at blame shifting?"

They all remained silent, a few shifty glances exchanged but nothing said.

"In that case," he continued, "anyone want to tell me what happened?"

Silence reigned once again, and Scorpius took his time observing each one of them before letting out a sigh.

"Alright. Finnigan, you mostly seem involved by association. Care to explain what's going on?"

Bobby gave a nervous gulp as every set of eyes save Hugo's turned to look at him. Rose's brother just continued staring almost blankly ahead.

"Well," Bobby began reluctantly, "this didn't exactly start today."

Scorpius' brow rose at this information. Rose watched closely as Jill seemed to be the only one surprised to hear this news as Scorpius asked Bobby to elaborate.

"Everyone's been on edge for weeks," Bobby said with a resigned sigh. "I don't know how it all started or who's to blame, but I don't think it would be fair to pin it all on one person. Everyone's been acting a bit irrationally. And today was just the final drop in the bucket."

He paused and glanced at his friends, his nerves being replaced by frustration as he continued, now no longer seeming to care that he might be throwing people under the bus.

"Hugo and Lily almost got into it at breakfast. He was trying to talk to her about plans for tomorrow, and she was on the verge of agreeing to spend some time with him, when Caleb showed up."

Bobby stalled once again, his eyes going towards Lily and Caleb, who were watching him. Lily's gaze grew curious at Bobby's hesitant expression, and Rose had to assume that there was something Lily had done at breakfast to set Hugo off, and she was completely unaware of her behavior. Just like Rose had told Hugo weeks ago. If Rose was reading the situation correctly, Bobby was not only frustrated with the situation, but with the fact that Hugo had failed to voice his frustrations before now, and he no longer had any incentive to keep things to himself.

"All of her attention immediately turned to Caleb," he continued, his eyes still on Lily, "just like it does every time he's around. Before either of us knew what was happening, she was agreeing to plans with him on Sunday instead, even suggesting them herself, and completely disregarding anything she'd previously discussed with Hugo. You can understand how that would set him off. Especially since it's not the first time it's happened."

The silence following Bobby's words was deafening. Lily's face was white, though she refrained from looking at Hugo. Caleb seemed uncomfortable and guilty, and Hugo was still glaring straight ahead while Bobby turned back towards Rose and Scorpius.

"We decided to head down to the pitch then, and Lily called out to us when she noticed us leaving, asking if we were planning on wishing them good luck. We usually do," he explained. "There's a whole handshake and everything. Anyway, before I could do anything, Hugo snapped at her, saying something about how, now that it's about her, she wanted his attention. We left after that, and I pulled him aside after the match to talk to him and try and calm him down because he was still a bit angry even once the match was over and was insistent on giving her a piece of his mind. I warned him against it, but…"

He trailed off with a shrug, their current situation speaking for itself.

"We were already arguing a bit when they showed up at the after party," Jill chimed in, and even Hugo's attention turned to her, as he didn't know this part of the story. "I don't know what happened after the match," she said a bit nervously, "but Louis just started picking a fight with Caleb out of what appeared to be nowhere. He was blaming him for the fact that they lost, seeing as he let in that goal last minute and it would have been a tie otherwise. Patrick might not have caught the Snitch if that was the case. I only jumped in because he was being unreasonable-"

"No, I was being a good friend," Louis interrupted, glaring slightly at Jill, "Unlike you."

"How's angrily calling me out in front of dozens of people and blaming me for something that's not my fault being a good friend?" Caleb said in frustration.

"I thought you'd like to know when you were acting like a twat," Louis snapped back. "Was that an incorrect assumption?"

"Back off, Lou," Lily snarled at her cousin.

"This is all your fault, you know," said Louis, turning his attention to Lily. "Everything was fine until you entered the picture."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that nothing was wrong until you started dating my best friend," Louis nearly shouted. An amused snort sounded from the other side of the room, which appeared to be Hugo's way of agreeing with Louis.

"You said you were fine with it," Caleb said in exasperation.

"Well maybe I didn't think you'd both start acting like prats."

"You think I'm a bad friend?"

This question had come from Jill, her tone quiet and hurt as she looked at Louis. He softened a bit, but not entirely. "You weren't really acting like a good one."

Jill's face turned from hurt to livid. "Someone has to stick up for Caleb."

"Because our precious Wood never does anything wrong," Hugo said with a roll of his eyes, and that was all he needed to do to set Lily off.

"You know what, Hugo?" she snapped, standing and glaring at her cousin. "Fuck you, too. I'm sick of your attitude. You've been acting like an arse for weeks, and I'm done."

Lily made to leave, but Scorpius chose to step in, the plan he'd seemed to have of letting them hash things out in private beginning to fall apart.

"Sit down," he told Lily, who only hesitated for a moment before sitting back in her seat. "Does anyone else have anything civil they'd like to add before I start handing out punishments?"

There was a slight uproar at the news that they would be punished, but Scorpius shouted over them before it could get too out of hand.

"Oi! No matter whose fault anything was, most of you are acting like children with all this finger pointing and name calling. I'm inclined to force the majority of you to endure a detention together."

They all fell silent, no one having a desire to put themselves in danger of receiving any further punishment than he already had in mind.

Scorpius turned to Rose, looking at her in a silent question that she understood immediately. With a sigh, she took in the mess that was in front of her, hoping her words would actually make a difference.

"Look, this is messy," she began. "All of you care a lot about each other, and it can hurt when you don't feel like your friends are there for you the way you want them to be. But you can't just go around not talking about your issues, because this is what happens; mass chaos that almost seems to happen out of thin air, but it's really been building for weeks under the surface. So talk to each other. Stop ignoring what's bothering you and speak up. Stop ignoring each other and take a moment to notice the people around you. Because they might not always be there, especially if you insist on being too proud or stubborn to admit when you're wrong or when you're hurt. If any of you want to fix this, it won't happen on its own. You have to make it happen. Understand?"

There were a few nods and guilty expressions, but Hugo merely sighed, looking at his sister and Scorpius a bit indifferently.

"What's the damage, then? I'd like to know how I'm being punished."

Rose and Scorpius shared another look, and she nodded before he faced the group again. "Detention for Hugo, Louis, Lily, and Caleb, and fifty points from Gryffindor. And in the spirit of fairness, five from Ravenclaw."

He gave Jill an apologetic grimace, but she nodded in understanding. Lily, on the other hand, was not as forgiving.

"This isn't our fault," she argued, gesturing between herself and Caleb. "We didn't do anything."

"So you weren't being held back from cursing your cousin as you yelled at him in the common room?" said Scorpius, his entire demeanor showing how unimpressed he was with her actions. "And Caleb didn't pull his wand and have to be stopped from cursing Hugo by a shield charm?"

Lily turned red, but she refrained from renewing her argument as Caleb sunk back a little further into his seat.

"You'll be hearing from Professor Longbottom," said Scorpius with finality.

"Brilliant, can I go?" Hugo asked as he stood from his seat, not wasting a glance towards any of his friends.

Scorpius looked at him calculatingly before speaking. "If you have nothing else to say for yourself, I can't force you to stay. You good with walking out of here?"

Hugo kept his gaze locked with Scorpius' challenging one for a few moments, belfore turning and strolling out of the room without showing a single ounce of remorse.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry it's been a minute since I updated! I got caught up with writing something else that I haven't started posting yet. Working on getting this one finished up now! I'm not sure how many chapters I have left, but it won't be many. However, I have lots of plans for a sequel, and that one will most likely have four POVs. Rose, Scorpius, Al, and Erin.**

 **I also have thought about doing a story with Hugo as my main character for the next school year. Not sure if it would include any other POVs or not.**

 **Hope you enjoyed the newest snapshot of Molly and Ethan! More from them come soon :)**


	49. Feels like my heart is going to burst

A week had passed since the Quidditch Final, and Scorpius was beginning to wonder if the people who'd been herded into the prefects meeting room would ever be friends again.

Lily and Caleb were mostly keeping to themselves, although tension seemed to be present between them as well. Jill and Molly had been spotted with the couple on occasion, but they were doing their best not to pick sides. Bobby could be seen almost exclusively with Lucy, especially now that Charlotte was always with Corbin. And Hugo and Louis had seemed to have found a bit of solidarity in each other, neither of them talking to anyone else. They were also spending some time with a few of the other people from their house, which was only infuriating Lily even more since it happened to include her dorm mate, Anastasia Bennett.

The flirtatious fifth year hadn't given up on her quest to gain Louis' attention over the course of the year. Scorpius had seen and heard about the countless times she'd been rather forward with Louis, but no matter how hard she'd tried, she'd always been brushed off or turned down. She seemed to be taking the most recent development as a victory, even going so far as to lavish a bit of attention on Hugo as well. And while Louis still wasn't keen on encouraging her, Hugo was enjoying every bit of it.

"If he doesn't watch himself, he's going to make a horrible mistake," Rose said darkly. She and Scorpius were eating dinner at the Slytherin table with Corbin and Charlotte and Al and Erin the Saturday following what was now being referred to as "the fiasco."

"He won't talk to me, either," Charlotte said worriedly, watching as Anastasia laughed exuberantly at something Hugo said. "I've tried, but he just told me to bugger off."

Rose gave Charlotte a commiserating look. She too had tried and failed to talk to Hugo, but he was brushing just about everyone aside. He also hadn't taken kindly to the fact that Charlotte and Corbin were spending even more time together after their kiss in the joint common room. Scorpius was just thankful Hugo hadn't witnessed that particular event.

"Not a whole lot we can do at this point," said Scorpius with a shrug, shoving a fork full of mashed potatoes into his mouth.

"I'd just hate for all of them to end the school year this way," Rose said in disappointment. "Final Exams are only a week away, and the last thing Hugo and Lily need is to be distracted before they take their O.W.L.s."

"Are you sure you're not just focusing on all this rubbish so you can ignore how much you're panicking over your own exams?" Corbin asked with a smirk. Rose flushed with what Scorpius took to be a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment at his cavalier attitude and accurate assumption.

"She happens to be more than prepared," said Scorpius supportively. "She's going to do brilliantly in her N.E.W.T.s, and that Ancient Runes O.W.L. won't even know what hit it."

Rose smiled in appreciation as he grinned at her before going back to his meal, but she refrained from commenting. As Al went on to complain about how much he hated doing so much homework on the weekends, Scorpius couldn't help but notice that Rose was subtly squirming in her seat, clearly agitated as she glanced towards where Riley was sitting a few places down the table. He also didn't miss the subtle smirk Riley wore.

"Did you still want to work on Transfiguration tonight?" Erin asked, pulling a slightly startled Rose back into the conversation.

"Sure," said Rose. "We can head to the library from here."

The four seventh years made their way to the library a short while later, none of them keen to spend the last few hours of their Saturday buried in books. But they only had a few more weeks of studying to endure, and then they'd be done for good, which Al joyfully pointed out as they exited the Great Hall.

"We won't be exactly done, though," Scorpius couldn't help but mention. "There's still three years of Auror training, plus all the evaluations we have to do this summer."

"But that'll be way better than this," Al said emphatically. "I'll actually be working towards what I've dreamed of doing for years."

"Haven't you been doing that already?" Rose asked with a chuckle. Al rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, sure. But it's different. It'll be more real than Hogwarts."

They continued to discuss the validity of Al's evaluation of school verses post-school training while they made their way towards the library. Laughter echoed through the corridors as Erin did a rather spot on impression of Al's meltdown before the Herbology exam the year before, but it died rather abruptly when they turned the corner that would take them towards the library and almost ran straight into Lucas Prince.

The rather surly Slytherin stopped dead in his tracks the moment he saw them, his already haughty expression turning a bit more sinister as he took them in. Scorpius had a strong inclination to hex him within an inch of his life when his gaze rested on Rose, giving her a grotesque once over with an unpleasant smirk on his face.

Scorpius had done what he'd considered to be a superb job of avoiding his housemate over the past few months. They shared a few classes, but both knew it was best to keep to themselves during class time. After what had happened in the Great Hall at the start of term, Prince had been watched by the staff even more closely, and he wasn't enough of an idiot to get himself caught causing trouble once again. When it was just them in a corridor, however, it was a different story.

"She training you well, Malfoy?" Prince sneered, his eyes still on Rose. "Got you nice and obedient now? Turning you into a good little Gryffindor wannabe?"

Scorpius' jaw clenched in anger. He heard a slight scuffling behind him and a rushed whisper. Erin was most likely restraining Al and talking him into not doing anything stupid. But Scorpius kept his attention focused on Prince, who ran a hand through his soft, dark hair and took one slow step closer to Rose. She was standing quite still, a small trace of fear mixed with the expression of loathing she wore.

"Who I choose to spend my time with and how I spend it is none of your concern," Scorpius said with forced calm, taking his own small step forward. "I don't want any trouble, Prince."

"I don't either," said Prince with mock innocence. "Not with you, at least. Wouldn't mind some good old fashioned punishment at the hands of our Head Girl, though."

He was smirking at Rose again, and Scorpius stepped in front of her with his wand raised without a second thought. "Stay the hell away from her," he practically growled at Prince. "I doubt anyone here will think twice about backing me up when I say you threatened Rose and I had no choice but to hex you."

"Really?" said Prince, his brow raised skeptically as he looked at Scorpius with condescension in his eyes. "With all the times you've been caught breaking rules this year, you'd be lucky not to do some serious damage to your future prospects. Auror Academy, yeah?"

Scorpius tightened his hold on his wand, forcing himself to refrain from firing an inordinate amount of hexes at Lucas Prince.

"What's your problem, anyway?" came a thoroughly put-out voice from behind Scorpius. It was the type of thing he would have expected from Rose or Al, but he felt a shock of surprise when he recognized Erin's voice.

As much as he didn't want to take his eyes off Prince, Scorpius couldn't help looking over his shoulder in shock. Erin was fuming, and it wasn't her who'd held Al back. It was the other way around. Al had an arm around his girlfriend's waist, his other hand holding her wand along with his, apparently having confiscated it when she'd first started to lose her temper.

"He hasn't done anything to you," Erin continued, her voice dripping with frustration. "He tried your way of doing things and decided it wasn't for him. Just accept that and move on instead of being such a sore loser about it."

Something about Erin's words made Scorpius want to laugh. It made everything seem so juvenile. Which, Scorpius was realizing, it was. Al had a look of amused surprise on his face, and Rose was staring at her best friend slack jawed. Scorpius turned back to face Prince when he heard him let out a derisive chuckle.

"Maybe you're right," he said with a noncommittal shrug. "But I don't take kindly to people who don't respect their house or family legacy."

"In case you weren't aware," said Scorpius, slightly lowering his wand and speaking with less hostility, "I've had a bit of work to do as far as repairing the family name goes. And I don't agree with your particular view on house pride."

Prince gave a snort of amusement. "I gathered that."

As far as Scorpius could tell, they were now at a standstill, neither having much of a desire to back down. Not to mention Scorpius was still livid about Prince's disrespectful behavior towards Rose.

"Tell you what," said Prince after a few moments of charged silence. "As you well know, we've got a nice little end of the year party coming up. I can stay out of your way as long as you stay out of mine."

Scorpius hesitated. He knew full well how out of hand the final party of the year could get in the Slytherin common room, but he'd never really intervened as a prefect. Could he do the same now?

"Deal."

Scorpius looked at Rose in shock. She was still standing behind him, but slightly to his right so she could see around him and face Prince. He completely lowered his wand arm when he felt the gentle pressure of Rose's hand on his shoulder. Scorpius' gaze snapped back to Prince when he heard him let out a humorless chuckle.

"Still letting her speak for you, Malfoy?" he said with a sneer. "Don't blame you. I bet you let her do whatever she wants with that pretty little mouth of hers."

"Scorp, no," Rose said firmly, one hand moving from his shoulder to grip his forearm, the other resting on his back as she stopped him from doing something he would have, in all likelihood, very much regretted. But he didn't think he would have been too sorry about it in the moment.

Taking a few calming breaths and focusing on the stability he gained from Rose's touch, he managed to come up with a way to handle the situation.

"You know what?" he said, shoving his wand in his pocket and looking squarely at Prince with a resigned expression. "It's not worth it. However, you shouldn't speak to your Head Girl that way, let alone any woman at all. So I'll see to it you serve detention with Simpson every Saturday for the rest of term. It's only three detentions, so you're actually getting off a bit easy."

Prince was now scowling dangerously at Scorpius, having come to the accurate conclusion that he'd now have to miss the party he'd previously requested Scorpius stay out of. "What happened to staying out of my way?"

"You should've thought about that before being so incredibly disrespectful to the Head students," he said with authority. "Now bugger off before I reconsider making it every night till the end of term."

Prince's expression hardened, and Scorpius thought he saw his hand flinch towards his wand for a moment, but then he was striding forward, brushing past Scorpius, and not sparing a second glance at anyone else. There was a collective sigh of relief as he turned the corner and disappeared.

"I doubt that's the end of that," said Al as he slowly released Erin.

"Why'd you do that?" Rose asked, ignoring Erin as she grabbed her wand from Al and told him not to take her wand from her again.

"Which part?" Scorpius asked in confusion.

"Give him detention," Rose said emphatically. "We were in the clear to walk away peacefully and put it all behind us, but you couldn't let it go!"

"Of course I couldn't!" Scorpius said in what he felt was perfectly reasonable righteous indignation. "He was being incredibly disrespectful, crass, rude, and just about every other negative adjective you could think of."

"So? We've had enough trouble with him, and now you're asking for more?"

"I sure as hell wasn't going to let him talk to you that way. And you just said last week that I'm allowed to stick up for you, remember?"

Rose let out a sigh, a small smile flickering across her face in spite of herself. "I know. I just don't want him to have a reason to give you anymore trouble."

Scorpius smiled at the slight pout she wore, his arm going around her shoulder and pulling her into his side before they continued to walk towards the library, Al and Erin having walked on ahead of them.

"We only have three weeks left here," Scorpius reminded Rose. "Even if he wanted to cause trouble, we'll be going our separate ways soon enough. There's only so much he could do, and I doubt he'll risk anything too serious."

"Fine," Rose said with a sigh, her arm going around his waist as they entered the library. "But I really hope I won't be saying I told you so when he finds a way to get even."

Scorpius chuckled at the unimpressed expression she wore, dropping a kiss to the top of her head as they joined Al and Erin in the Transfiguration section. Erin was already sitting and pulling books out while Al wandered off down the shelves.

"I should probably help him," said Rose, watching her cousin as he cluelessly scanned the shelves, searching for more study materials. Scorpius sat as Rose went to join Al, pulling out his own books and study notes. It was a few moments later that he noticed Erin was watching him closely, her expression calculating.

"What?" asked Scorpius, keeping his voice down. Erin continued to stare at him for a moment, her lips slightly pursed as she sat with her arms crossed.

"It's not like I was ever against you and Rose, okay?" she said quietly, causing Scorpius to raise his eyebrows in surprise. "But every best friend is a bit skeptical about the bloke their best friend is dating at first. I mean, even though Al is Rose's cousin, I know she had her doubts about everything. Especially with the way we handled things in the beginning."

Scorpius nodded. He knew Rose had been frustrated with Al on a few occasions, but he'd never really thought about it in that respect. It made sense, though. Scorpius didn't have a problem with Erin, but it had always been his job as Al's best friend to keep an eye out, and he knew Al did the same for him.

"You gave all of us a bit of a scare this year," Erin continued, "not just Rose. We were all worried and confused by everything, so it's only natural that I'd be skeptical about how in this you are."

Scorpius opened his mouth to argue his case, but Erin smiled, raising her hand to stop him.

"My point is, the way you just handled all that? I have to say, I'm impressed. I mean, you did threaten to react physically, but you kept your head. And, more importantly, you stood up for her. You wouldn't have done so that boldly a few months ago."

She was right and Scorpius knew it. Even at the Slytherin victory party that Rose had gone to, she'd been the one to stand up to Prince. He'd kept quiet, not wanting to cause any problems. Now he didn't seem to care if he stepped on someone else's toes. All that mattered was Rose.

"Anyway," said Erin, opening up one of her text books. "If I didn't trust you to look after her before, I certainly do now."

Scorpius grinned, touched and amused by Erin's words. "You do realize that you would've pummeled his arse yourself if Al hadn't held you back?" he said with a smirk. "So you really can't hold it against me that I wanted to do the same."

Erin chuckled quietly. "I know. He's disgusting. I don't know how you controlled yourself."

Scorpius smiled, his eyes going to Rose as she and Al made their way back to the table.

"I had more help than you think."

Erin gave him a coy smile, noticing the direction his gaze had gone.

"Why do you look like that?"

Erin looked at Al in amused uncertainty at his question as he sat beside her. "Um… do you mean in general? 'Cause I'm not changing my hair color for you or anything like that."

"I meant your expression," he said with a chuckle. "What were you two talking about?"

"None of your business," Erin said aloofly, turning back to their table full of books. "Scorp and I have our own friendship, you know. He's not just your best friend and Rose's boyfriend."

Scorpius grinned in amusement. He always got a kick out of the sass she gave Al, and it was always a nice reminder that they did have their own friendship, even though it wasn't always as obvious as all the other relationships that comprised their little group. He knew she had his back, and he had hers.

"Does that mean you two talk about us?" Al asked a bit fearfully, gesturing between himself and Rose.

"Are you saying that you two don't talk about us?" Erin shot back, gesturing between herself and Scorpius. Al looked slightly guilty for a moment before he shrugged.

"Fair point. Just don't say anything too revealing."

Erin laughed. "Afraid I'm going to tell him that you're actually rather sweet when you want to be?" she teased. "Or maybe I should talk about the fact that you're ticklish on your-"

"Oi!" Al interrupted, turning bright red as his hand flew over Erin's mouth. Her eyes were shining with laughter, and Rose and Scorpius were having a hard time not sniggering themselves. "It would be nice to keep some things private," Al whispered fiercely. Erin chuckled before removing his hand from her mouth.

"Sorry," she said placatingly. "I'll try not to give away every detail."

"I'd appreciate that, thanks," said Al with roll of his eyes and a light chuckle.

"At least not to Scorpius," said Erin, smirking at an amused Rose. Al rubbed his face in exasperation.

"Bloody hell, what have I gotten myself into?"

Erin laughed, kissing Al's cheek with a loud smack and causing him to shoot her an annoyed look. "Admit it, Albus, you love me," she said with a smirk.

Al's expression softened just a bit, but he managed to still look annoyed, even if he didn't really feel it. "Unfortunately, yeah, I do."

Erin beamed at him before turning back to her books, all of them focusing on their studies once again. But Scorpius was having trouble paying attention. Over the course of the last ten minutes, he'd realized a lot of things that he now knew had been in the back of his mind for a while. But now wasn't the time to dwell on all of that. They had time. He could think about all of that later.

And it wasn't like he could even say anything to Rose now. The last thing he wanted to do was distract her as well. And Scorpius had a feeling that they'd both have trouble focusing if he actually told Rose that he was well on his way to falling in love with her.

* * *

Rose was trying not to panic. Their last week of school before exams had passed in a blur, and the first N.E.W.T. was taking place the following day. The week would begin with Charms, followed by Muggle Studies. She wasn't too nervous about those. She'd kept up well in her classes and had studied diligently throughout the year. Nor was she worried about her other N.E.W.T. subjects. Her true sense of dread could be traced back to the one O.W.L. she had to take.

The truth was, Rose had been doing really well with her Ancient Runes work, but it had started to go slightly downhill once Scorpius had started studying History of Magic. Rose knew she'd spent too much time focusing on helping him study, making the excuse that she was studying herself during that time. It had caused her to lose sight of her priorities just long enough that she was now behind. At this point, she wasn't sure if she would be able to scrape an Acceptable, even though she'd been working extra hard to try and catch up.

Riley was doing what she could to help, and things had been better between the two of them since after Christmas, but as soon as Rose began falling behind in her studies, the tension had risen once again. The past week had been brutal during their tutoring sessions. They'd spent at least an hour a day working through the material, with Riley saying only somewhat confidently that she thought Rose would be able to achieve an Acceptable. Her uncertainty wasn't very reassuring.

"You're more on edge about this than I thought you'd be," said Scorpius the night before their first exam. They'd spent the last day of the weekend cramming in as much studying as possible, but Scorpius had insisted they call it a night when the library closed at curfew. Rose had resisted this idea their whole walk back to the Heads' common room, only relenting when he'd taken her book bag and made her sit on the couch, declaring that he would be making them both some hot cocoa.

"I just want to be as prepared as possible," said Rose as he wandered off towards their small kitchen. She still hadn't quite relaxed and was sitting on the edge of the couch, unsure of how honest she should be.

"You're probably more prepared than Al and Erin combined," he said with a slight chuckle, his attention focused on his task of preparing their warm beverages. "Plus, you're already brilliant anyway."

Rose returned the smile that he threw at her over his shoulder, feeling slightly better, but unable to shake the feeling of dread that all her extra work that year wouldn't pay off. And then she'd probably have to find a job in a book shop or a cafe. Not that that would be the worst thing in the world, but now that she knew there was something else out there for her to do, it would be a bit of a let down.

And it had been made clear in her interview that the publisher she was going to work for did a lot of translation work. It was even in her job description. They'd even been hesitant, she'd learned later, to give her the job at all without a N.E.W.T. in the subject. It was even expected that she continue to study and take her Ancient Runes N.E.W.T. within her first year out of Hogwarts, which was news she hadn't shared with anyone yet.

The whole thing was still causing her to be in an almost constant state of stress, so even though taking a break seemed counter productive during their last evening before exams began, she knew Scorpius was probably right. She'd tire her brain out if she didn't let it rest.

"Hey, you alright?"

Rose hadn't realized Scorpius had finished making their drinks until he was standing in front of her with two mugs in his hands and a look of concern on his face. Letting out a sigh, Rose finally relaxed back into the couch, accepting the beverage he offered and gaining comfort from the warmth that seeped into her fingers as she held the mug in her hands.

"Not really," she admitted quietly, keeping her gaze on her cocoa as Scorpius sat next to her. "I'm worried about my Runes exam."

He didn't say anything, and Rose knew he was merely waiting patiently for her to elaborate. She took a sip of her cocoa before continuing.

"I sort of fell behind," she admitted reluctantly, really not wanting to get into this next part, "when you started studying History of Magic."

She chanced a glance at him. Scorpius was already looking guilty, so Rose quickly shook her head, setting her cocoa down on the table next to the couch before turning to face him, her leg bent and resting between them on the cushions.

"It's not your fault," she assured him, reaching out and resting her hand on his knee. "I just wanted to do my best to prove to you that I was being supportive, even though I was still slightly terrified by everything, so I just jumped right into spending all my spare study time helping you however I could."

"Even though you had it all so scheduled out?" Scorpius asked in surprise. Rose nodded.

"I didn't really schedule much time for me to work on Runes outside of tutoring. I'd been doing really well and was even slightly ahead, so I guess I got a little cocky."

She gave him a grimace, knowing that even if she shouldered all the blame, he'd still feel a bit guilty. Both for being the cause of her distraction, and for not noticing she'd fallen behind.

"You should have told me," he said, taking a sip of his cocoa before leaning across Rose to set it on the end table next to her own mug. He sat back and draped his arm across the back of the couch behind her. "I could have helped."

"You've had a lot on your plate as well," she said a bit shyly, looking down and picking at a loose thread on his jeans where her hand still rested. "And it's not like I wouldn't be able to still find a job somewhere in the field I want if I fail. I'd have options. But if _you'd_ failed…"

She heard Scorpius sigh. He moved closer to her, his arm coming down from around her shoulder so he could grab her hand off his knee and lace their fingers together. Rose closed her eyes and turned so she could lean her head against his shoulder, realizing just how tired she was as she sunk further back into the couch.

"Thank you," said Scorpius after a few moments of peaceful silence. Rose hummed questioningly in response, her eyes fluttering open to look up at his profile as he stared into the fire. "For caring that much," he explained. "Not that I necessarily approve of you shirking your own responsibilities to… look after me…"

He'd flushed a bit at his words, his fingers fiddling with hers a bit nervously. Rose watched him curiously for a moment before voicing her thoughts.

"Why does this mean so much to you?"

Scorpius looked down at her, his expression slightly embarrassed and hesitant. "I just know how important your studies are to you, not to mention your future. I don't think I've ever known you to overlook your own study needs for anyone, so the simple fact that you did it for me… it's a bit terrifying."

"How's that terrifying?" Rose asked, sitting up and turning to face him more fully, crossing both of her legs on the couch in front of her and holding his hand in both of hers before resting them in her lap.

"That you would give anything up for me," he elaborated, his eyes meeting hers a bit hesitantly, "even if it was something that seems as trivial as study time."

"Of course," said Rose, still unsure why he was this affected by her actions. She could tell he knew he wasn't exactly getting things across clearly when he let out a sigh and looked down at her hands holding his.

"I just got to thinking the other day when we had that whole run in with Prince. Erin and I talked a bit while you and Al were looking for books in the library, and it just sort of hit me how much I've changed this year and how much you were a part of that. It's not like I'm an entirely different person, but I'd like to think I'm who I was before everything went to hell, but a better version of that. I just want the same to be true for you too. If you're making me a better person, shouldn't I be making you one as well?"

"You are," she said uncertainly.

"Yet the Rose I know would never have become so unfocused that she was in danger of failing an exam."

And Rose finally understood what was bothering him.

"Scor, I chose to use my time a certain way because you matter to me," she explained. "And maybe losing focus on myself in order to be there for someone else is actually a good thing. Maybe I need to pay a little less attention to myself and spend a bit more time focusing on others."

A slight smile formed on Scorpius' face, his free hand running a bit self consciously through his hair. "I suppose that's a good thing. I don't want you putting your future at risk for me, though."

"I won't," she said with a smile. "But that's not the only thing on your mind, is it?"

She could tell because even though he'd jumped to whether or not he was having a good influence on her, there was something about her actions that had touched him. He let out a nervous laugh, his gaze returning to their hands as he held both of hers in his own.

"Another thing that occurred to me the other day," he began slowly, "was just how much I'm willing to do for you. And it might seem silly that something like giving up your own study time to help me would make me realize that you probably feel the same way, but it just sort of hit me."

Rose remained silent for a few moments, her chest tightening as his blue eyes pierced hers with intensity. There was something in them that had been present for a while, but somehow seemed heightened tonight.

"What did?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper, a pretty solid idea of what he was going to say next forming in her head. But then he gave a jerky shrug and averted his eyes.

"I don't really know," he said elusively. "Just how real all of this is for me, I guess."

Rose watched Scorpius closely as he stared across the room and into the fire. She squeezed his hands and drew his attention back to her.

"It's real for me too," she said softly. "Very real."

He smiled at her, and Rose knew there was more he could have said and maybe even wanted to say, but maybe they weren't ready for that yet. They'd only really been together for two months. Rose might be fairly certain she knew how they both felt, but any decelerations could come later. They had nothing but time.

Instead, she covered the gap between them and placed a soft, loving kiss on his lips, doing her best to say what her words couldn't quite get to just yet. And when he smiled into the kiss before returning it, Rose knew he understood, and was telling her the same.

* * *

 **A/N: Aren't they cute 3**

 **Thanks for all of your wonderful reviews. I'm just as worried about Lily and Hugo and the lot as you are. We'll get into that a bit more next chapter. Also, this story will end once school ends, which will be in a few chapters. I do plan on a sequel, so it's not all going to be tied up in a pretty little bow, though there will be a bit of conclusion to it. I still have a bit of planning to do for the sequel, so not entirely sure when you will be seeing that yet.**

 **Love to you all! Happy reading and reviewing :)**


	50. But time makes you bolder

N.E.W.T.s were just about as exhausting as Scorpius had expected. As the school year began to draw to an end, he barely did anything outside of studying and taking exams, and the first week of N.E.W.T.s almost passed in a blur. Although, he could vividly recall the rather amusing conversation he had with Malcolm Bray after coming out of the Muggle Studies exam.

"I mean, it's not _technically_ my business," Professor Mac had said to Scorpius in an undertone, "but she _is_ my little sister, and it's my job to look out for her. And it's not entirely professional, me asking you about your cousin."

"No worries, professor," Scorpius said in amusement. "And he's a good bloke. I don't know how serious it is, but he seems to really like her. I'm keeping an eye on him."

Malcolm had given him a nod and a small smile in understanding before allowing Scorpius to go on his way.

There were other brief glimpses of things unrelated to studying through their exam weeks. Rose had heard from her mother that Roxanne and Lorcan had set a date for the wedding, and she'd also been asked to stay with Teddy and Victoire for a week in the summer before she started work.

"If I _do_ start work," Rose said quietly to Scorpius during breakfast one morning, her initial elation simmering after remembering this small detail.

"You're going to do brilliantly," Scorpius whispered into her ear, kissing the side of her head in an effort to offer some type of reassurance. Rose gave him a grateful smile. Her Ancient Runes O.W.L. would be taking place after breakfast, and since Scorpius and Erin would be taking the N.E.W.T. for it after lunch, the three of them had spent the previous day studying nothing but the subject, making sure that Rose knew the material front and back, seeing as neither of them really needed a N.E.W.T. in Ancient Runes.

The second week of N.E.W.T.s wasn't any easier than the first. Everyone in the castle seemed to simply be trying to survive until the last day of exams hit and they were finally able to think about anything other than schoolwork once again.

The final exam the seventh years had to take was Defense Against the Dark Arts. It was on the Wednesday of the final week of exams, which meant they would have a few more days to spend at the castle once they'd finished. They didn't have a typical graduation ceremony, but Professor McGonagall would give a speech at breakfast the final Saturday of term before the train left Hogsmeade. All the seventh years would sit at a special table at the front of the Great Hall and have their names read out in recognition.

But before any of that could happen, they had one final exam, and one final party to throw.

It was mostly put together by the sixth year prefects, since the seventh years and the Head students had N.E.W.T.s to worry about. But Rose and Scorpius were still in charge of making sure things went smoothly and no one took advantage of it being the last night of term. This one wasn't chaperoned by the staff, as they patrolled the castle corridors instead.

There hadn't been a party during Scorpius' sixth year, since Ethan had been Head Boy and needed to leave the castle grounds a day early before the party could take place. But this year would be different. And Scorpius was worried.

Typically, Slytherin house had their end of the year party the weekend before the last week of exams, but this year, nothing had happened. Scorpius could only assume that this was due to Prince having to serve detention. He wasn't about to breathe a sigh of relief yet. There was still time for him to pull something. Scorpius just wasn't sure what it would be.

He hadn't had much time to think about it, what with his own exams and still keeping up with Head duties. And Lucas Prince was the last thing on Scorpius' mind as he, Al, Erin, and Rose left their Defense Against the Dark Arts written exam, finally done with their N.E.W.T.s after having successfully completed their practicals in the subject earlier in the day. Scorpius felt an extreme weight lifting as they all snapped themselves out of their exam induced hazes. Erin was the first to break the silence, laughter issuing out of her before she spoke.

"Is that really it? We're done?" she asked in disbelief. And then they were all smiling, laughter and cheers echoing around the corridor as all the seventh years finally let loose. Erin, Rose, Scorpius, and Al took off in the direction of the seventh floor, laughing and carrying on the whole way back to the Heads' common room.

"Scorp!"

They collectively turned to face Corbin as he hurried towards them, Scorpius waving his friends into the common room as his cousin approached him.

"What's up?" he asked once the others had disappeared and Corbin stopped in front of him.

"I just thought you should know," Corbin began, slightly out of breath after having hurried to catch him, "that I think Prince is planning something for the end or term party."

A pit lodged itself in Scorpius' stomach at his cousin's words. "Shit," he ground out, his hand going to his face as he rubbed it in frustration. "You sure? What did you hear?"

"I overheard him talking to Nott at lunch today," said Corbin. "No real specifics, just something about being ready for Friday night along with your name and something about a surprise. Didn't sound like it would be a good one."

Scorpius let out a sigh of frustration. "Right, okay. Thanks for the heads up."

Corbin nodded. "What're you going to do?"

"Not sure," said Scorpius, weighing the options in his mind. "I should probably tell Rose, but I also know she'll hardly think about anything else till then if I do."

"You could always tell one of the teachers," Corbin suggested.

"What, that I have a hunch something is going to happen?" Scorpius asked skeptically.

"Why not?" asked Corbin. "Would they have a reason to think you were making a big deal out of nothing? Doesn't his reputation speak for itself? Not to mention the fact that you're actually a trustworthy person?"

Scorpius was struck silent for a moment at Corbin's words. It still surprised him that he and his cousin had gone from barely spending any time with each other, to actually having a friendship. He doubted whether or not Corbin would have warned him about this at the beginning of the year.

"I'll think about it," he told Corbin. "I'll figure out what to do."

"Alright," said Corbin, seeming proud that he'd done his part and the rest was now in his cousin's much more capable hands. He turned to walk away, but Scorpius found himself stopping him before he'd fully decided to do so.

"You and Charlotte," he began once Corbin had turned to face him once again, "are you actually together?"

A smirk appeared on Corbin's face and he shrugged, his hands shoved in his pockets.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Scorpius asked when he didn't elaborate.

"Does it have to mean anything?" Corbin asked as if the whole thing was no big deal. "I'm having a good time, she's having a good time…"

"Does she know that's all it is?" Scorpius asked, growing more annoyed as the conversation continued. "A good time?"

"That's not what I meant," Corbin said a bit impatiently. "I just meant that I'm not putting any pressure on either of us, and neither is she. Especially going into the summer. I suppose I don't see the point."

"The point is you don't lead her on and potentially hurt her when you come back next year and act disinterested," said Scorpius, crossing his arms as he gave his cousin a harsh look.

"What are you trying to say?" Corbin said in exasperation. "You trying to force me to make a decision?"

"I'm just saying that you should at least let her know where your head's at," Scorpius said calmly. "I'm not saying you should ask her to be your girlfriend or put labels on it or anything. Just that it's only fair that she knows where this is or isn't heading."

"Scor, I appreciate that you care, really," said Corbin, "but I think I can handle it, okay?"

He wanted to protest, but he also knew he didn't really know the details, so how much could he really say? Maybe Charlotte was perfectly fine with how things were and it would only ruin things if Corbin said something now?

"Alright," said Scorpius finally. "Just know that I'm here, you know. If you ever need anything."

Corbin gave an appreciative nod, repeating the sentiment back to his cousin before turning and walking away.

The second part of their conversation had momentarily caused Scorpius to forget the first part, but it came screaming back to him as soon as his cousin was gone.

What was Prince planning to do? And what was Scorpius supposed to do about it? Should he tell Rose? More likely than not, she'd be upset with him if he didn't. Plus, she deserved to know as Head Girl. And did he need to bother a professor?

He still had a few days to think about it, maybe do a little digging and try to figure out what Prince was planning. Until he had something more concrete, he'd keep quiet. There was no need to dwell on it, and there was no need to worry anyone else. Not until he knew for sure there was anything to worry about.

* * *

"What do you think that's about?" Erin asked as the portrait shut behind her and Al and Rose.

"Dunno," said Al with a shrug. "Maybe it's a family thing."

They both looked at Rose questioningly, but she could only shrug in uncertainty. "I don't know. There's nothing going on that I'm aware of."

She turned to face the fire, flicking her wand so flames burst up around the logs.

"Do you have any food?" Al asked, wandering over towards the small kitchen area.

"I think there was a pack of biscuits from the other day we didn't finish," she said through a yawn, following as Al began to open and close cupboards while Erin made a pot of tea. Rose helped Al to locate the already opened package of biscuits and showed him how to get fresh ones to appear. By the time they were making their way back to the couch and chairs, Scorpius was entering the common room.

Rose looked at him curiously for a moment as he masked the concerned look he wore with a smile, which turned into a sigh of relief when he saw the food.

"Brilliant," he said. "I'm starving."

"What did Corbin want?" Al asked, shoving a biscuit into his mouth.

"Nothing much," said Scorpius, shrugging out of his robes and discarding them on the back of the couch. He didn't elaborate further, and an awkward silence settled.

"I didn't think it would be this hard to turn my mind off," Rose said with a sigh, collapsing onto the couch and rubbing a hand over her tired face, deciding it best to change the subject and let it go for now. Scorpius smiled gratefully as he joined her on the couch, lying down with a groan and placing his head in her lap.

"I know what you mean," he said, looking up at her as she pulled her hand away from her face. "I keep hearing all the different protective enchantment incantations running through my mind on repeat."

"It might help if we talk about something else," said Al, his tone a bit exasperated as he collapsed into one of the arm chairs and tossed one of the sleeves of biscuits at Scorpius.

"Like the future?" Erin asked with a smirk, sitting on the floor in front of Al and leaning back against his legs with a cup of tea in her hands.

"Hell no," said Al, his head resting against the back of the chair and his eyes closed. "Let's just let ourselves be nothing but a handful of teenagers for a few minutes, yeah? Nothing else to worry about except spending time laying about and talking about meaningless things."

"Like what?" Erin asked through a yawn, tipping her head back so she could look up at Al.

"Like how shit it is that the Falcons won the league," Scorpius chimed in, shoving a biscuit into his mouth.

Rose and Erin let out matching groans. This was a topic of conversation that Rose had thought was behind them. The season had ended at the end of May, and it had been the main discussion around the school for almost a week straight. It had died down when exams had started, but it appeared it was only a brief reprieve from the topic.

"It's gotten to the point where only their diehard fans care that they win since they've done it so many bloody years in a row," said Al in indignation. "James said the rivalry between Falmouth and Montrose has never been more intense. He's even expecting there to be a bit of tension at the gala this year."

"Are we going to be able to go to more of his matches?" asked Erin.

"Should be," said Al, perking up a bit at the idea of seeing some Quidditch as he finished off his package of biscuits.

"We'll have pretty tight schedules, though," Scorpius couldn't help pointing out. "We only get one Saturday a month off."

"Damn it, I forgot that bit," Al grumbled, sliding further down in his chair and jostling an annoyed Erin.

"When did you say Rox and Lorcan plan on getting married?" Scorpius asked Rose, rubbing his eyes and doing his best to stifle a yawn as he set aside his own package of biscuits.

"The eighth of March," said Rose with a small smile, her hand going to rest on Scorpius' chest. "So a little less than a year from now."

"Who do you think will be next to get married?" Erin asked.

There was a pause as everyone thought the question over.

"Umm… Rox and Lor?" Al said uncertainly, looking down at his girlfriend a bit concerned.

"I meant after them, you prat," Erin said, chuckling as Rose and Scorpius laughed.

"Oh," Al mumbled, sinking further back into the chair and saying nothing else. Erin rolled her eyes and shook her head at Rose as if to say how ridiculous her boyfriend was. Al scowled at the back of her head, knowing exactly what she was doing. A moment later, Erin let out a yelp of surprise as Al spread his legs so that Erin fell back between them and against the chair, almost spilling her tea in the process. .

"Hey!" she said indignantly, scooting herself back so she could rest more comfortable between Al's legs as he and Rose both chuckled. Scorpius gave a curious hum at the commotion, his position and the fact that his arm was draped over his eyes not allowing him to see what had happened. Rose just rubbed his chest and shook her head as he looked up at her.

"Maybe it'll be James and Violet," said Rose with a small chuckle, answering Erin's earlier question.

"I'm not so sure," said Al with a shrug. "James has always said he wants to wait a while once he's done with school before settling down. Like Ted and Vic did."

"Don't you think that might be different now that he's with Violet?" asked Rose, and Al's brow furrowed in concentration.

"I never really thought about it," he said uncertainly, "but, yeah, maybe."

"I think Violet would be more likely to want to wait than James," Erin commented as she sipped her tea.

"What makes you say that?" Al asked, his tone sounding a bit surprised at this observation.

"Well, she's just finishing up her training and starting her placement this summer, right? She probably wants to focus on that for a while before worrying about planning a wedding. And I know Rox and Lorcan are doing it, but still, twenty is awfully young to get married."

"They'll be twenty-one by the time the wedding rolls around," Rose pointed out.

"Are you saying you'd be ready to get married by the time you're twenty-one?" Erin asked with wide eyes, obviously surprised by Rose's blase attitude about the whole thing.

"Not necessarily," said Rose, absentmindedly continuing to stroke Scorpius' chest. "It would depend, I suppose."

"On what?"

Rose shrugged, tilting her head in thought and focusing on the blazing fire in the hearth. "I don't know. It would probably matter what I'm doing and what he's doing career wise; where we are in our relationship. I guess I couldn't really say for sure, but I'm just not writing it off as a possibility."

Erin was nodding her head in contemplation when Rose looked back at her. "I suppose that makes sense. I just always had it in my head that, if I ever got married, I'd wait until I was at least twenty-five."

"Really?" Rose asked. "Any reason why that age specifically?"

"Just what Mum always recommended. Then again, she doesn't really have room to talk with how everything played out with her and Dad."

Rose chuckled at the smirk Erin wore. She could vividly remember how shocked Erin had been when she'd done the math on her sister's birthday compared to her parents' anniversary one year. She'd actually confronted her father about it, who'd been extremely horrified at being called out in front of more than a few of his students. Erin had actually earned a detention for that one, but Neville had given her raised voice and attitude as his reasoning.

"Do you think you'd reconsider it, though?" Rose couldn't help but ask. "If the timing felt right?"

Erin gave a noncommittal shrug. "I don't really know, do I? It's all a little hypothetical, but I doubt it. Besides, who said I even want to get married, anyway?"

Rose couldn't help giving Erin a small smile. It was just like her to act like the whole idea didn't mean all that much to her. And she was always the type to get an idea in her head and stick to it. Time would only tell how things would play out for her.

Amused by Erin's nonchalant attitude, Rose looked down at Scorpius with a smile still on her face. She was about to make a comment about how stubborn Erin was, when the look on his face stopped her short.

Scorpius had removed his arm from over his eyes so it was now resting on his forehead. He was looking up at Rose with wide eyes and a shocked expression. Rose looked at him in confusion for a moment before everything she and Erin had just been talking about took on a whole new meaning now that she was realizing their boyfriends had been in the room to hear it.

All she could do was stare at him in shock, mentally backtracking through her conversation with Erin to see if she'd said anything too revealing or presumptuous. Thankfully, the panicked expression she was wearing was enough to relax him, and Scorpius chuckled, smiling up at her in amusement.

"Don't worry," he reassured her in a quiet voice, his hand going to rest on hers that had stilled on his chest. "You didn't say anything _too_ terrifying."

Rose let out a breathy laugh of relief, her hand turning over and gripping his. Scorpius gave her a tender smile before turning his head in her lap and looking over at the other couple in the room, whom Rose had momentarily forgotten about in her state of panic.

Erin had set down her tea and picked up a magazine off the table next to the couch. She was flipping through it nonchalantly, but Al was staring intently at the back of her head, his expression hard to read.

They were all way too young to be thinking about marriage, let alone talking about it. However, Rose knew that once Al was serious about something, it was to a fault. And if he really did love Erin, he'd already thought about their future together. Maybe not in clearly defined terms, but Al had told Rose just last summer that he wanted what Roxanne and Lorcan had. And Rose was willing to bet that even back then, he could see himself wanting that with Erin.

"What time is it?" Erin asked after a few minutes of silence, completely oblivious to the tone of the room as she flipped through a copy of the Quibbler. Scorpius lifted the hand that was holding Rose's to check his watch.

"Dinner time, actually," he said. "Want to head down?"

"Yes, I'm starved," Erin said dramatically, tossing aside the magazine and bracing her hands on Al's knees to push herself up off the floor. Scorpius sat up as well, and he and Rose both watched closely as Erin turned to Al with an outstretched hand and a small, expectant smile on her face. Al took it automatically, allowing his girlfriend to pull him into a standing position. His previously unreadable expression had been replaced with one of perfect contentment, not giving away at all that her earliet comments had any effect on him.

"Do you think it bothered him?" Rose said quietly to Scorpius as they followed their friends out of the common room.

"Not enough that he'll say anything about it anytime soon," said Scorpius a bit hesitantly. "At least, I don't think he will. It's not really that relevant right now, is it?"

"No, I suppose it's not," Rose said with a sigh. As Scorpius took her hand in his, she decided not to worry about it. She spent too much time as it was concerning herself with her best friend and her cousin's relationship.

Erin, for her part, remained oblivious to the effect that her words had had. They sat through a relatively normal dinner at the Gryffindor table, the subject only coming up again briefly when Erin said she wouldn't be surprised if Alice married Malcolm.

Rose couldn't help agreeing with this notion. Alice had been making more and more regular appearances around the castle, and the weekends she wasn't able to spend at Hogwarts, Malcolm spent in Hogsmeade. They were inseparable, and they were undeniably adorable.

"I mean, look at them," said Rose, her gaze trained on the head table where Alice was sitting next to Malcolm, having kept with her tradition of coming to the castle for dinner on Wednesdays. "He's obviously head over heels for her, and I'm willing to bet she feels the same."

Sure enough, as they all subtly watched, Malcolm seemed to be babbling on about something, and Alice seemed perfectly content to just sit there listening, her elbow resting on the table and her chin propped up in her hand, a serene smile on her face.

"It won't be anytime soon, though," said Erin. "I don't think, at least. It's taken her this long just to let someone in."

The subject was dropped as Caleb and Lily joined them, both looking tired but also better than they had in a few weeks.

"Is everything ready for the party on Friday?" Lily asked, looking surprisingly excited by the prospect. It was only a week ago that she'd made a comment during lunch about how awful the idea of another party sounded.

"Yep," said Scorpius. "Molly and Billy Price from Hufflepuff are in charge of getting everything set up, but everything's all planned out."

"They going to be next year's Heads?" Caleb asked curiously.

"We don't know," said Rose. "We're supposed to give recommendations, but they don't tell us who they choose."

"Molly would be a great choice, though, don't you think?" said Erin. "Not that I know much about being a prefect or Head duties, but she's very 'Rose-like'."

"What?" Rose asked through a chuckle.

"You know," Erin said with a roll of her eyes. "She's studious and responsible and doesn't get into any trouble. Plus, she at least tried to control the mess that this lot made during the last party we had."

She made the last statement with a gesture towards Caleb and Lily. While he focused back in on his food and pointedly ignored everyone, she looked equal parts frustrated and heartbroken.

"That wasn't our fault," Lily snapped, settling on anger as her primary reaction. Erin gave a disbelieving snort and appeared to be about to respond, but Rose was swift to kick her under the table, effectively shutting her up.

Rose and Scorpius had filled Erin and Al in on the mess that was their little meeting with Caleb, Lily, Hugo, Louis, Bobby, and Jill, and while they all saw the role that Hugo and Louis had played in making matters worse, it was hard not to fault Lily and Caleb for how they'd handled their transition from friends to something more.

Even Rose had come face-to-face with the effects of Lily's new relationship and could see the truth behind Hugo's accusations. She was having a hard time prioritizing anything above her relationship, if that was something she'd even tried to do. And even though she wanted her cousin to make things better, Rose understood. It was hard not to get caught up in something that made you so happy.

"Lily," said Rose quietly, leaning in to talk to her cousin with a bit more privacy, "have either of you even _tried_ to talk-"

"No," Lily hissed at Rose as she cut harshly into her chicken. "He said horrible things to me. I know he's your brother, but I don't want to have anything to do with him at the moment, and I'm not sure if I ever will."

"Lily-"

"Let it go, Rose," she said with a bit more volume. The two cousins stared at one another for a few moments, one challengingly and the other imploringly. Eventually, Lily stood roughly from the table and stormed out. Caleb watched her leave, looking torn between following her and staying.

"Oi, Wood," Al called down towards his sister's boyfriend. The sixth year turned to look at Al questioningly, seeming both fearful and hopeful. "This whole mess centers around the two of you, and you're just about the only one she'll listen to right now. So find a way to fix it, and fix it."

Caleb nodded, his expression serious as he took in Al's words, and his choice between leaving or staying was momentarily made for him when Jill and Molly sat down across from him.

"We just talked to Louis," said Jill, who seemed happier than she had in the past few weeks.

"You two make up?" Caleb asked uncertainly, almost as if he were trying to decide whether or not he should care.

"Yeah," said Jill with a relieved sigh. "We talked it out. You should do the same."

"Jill…" he said with a groan, obviously not looking forward to the encounter.

"Caleb, I've known you as long as I've known my cousin," said Molly. "I know that you're probably dying inside since you can't stand being at odds with anyone. He may have been acting unreasonable, but he was feeling hurt and left out. Yes, he needs to apologize, but you need to make things better."

Caleb seemed to contemplate Molly's words for a while, before he nodded resolutely.

"I'll fix it," he said with determination, glancing back towards Al again. "Okay? I'll fix it."

Everyone gave a sigh of relief as Caleb stood from the table and left the Great Hall, thankful that at least a few friendships looked like they were about to be salvaged. Time would only tell as far as Hugo and Lily were concerned, unfortunately, and Rose was having a very hard time remaining optimistic.

By the time Friday night rolled around, things were at least better between Louis and Caleb, if not perfect. Rose had seen them having what appeared to be an amicable conversation at the beginning of the end of term party, though it was short lived.

"It's a start," Jill said with a sigh from her seat next to Rose. The party had been set up in the joint common room, and Rose was hoping that a repeat of the previous party held in the room wouldn't be occurring. She and Scorpius had shown up near the beginning of the evening, and she'd encouraged him to spend some time with the housemates he was actually friends with, seeing as it was likely to be for one of the last times. Rose had been floating around and enjoying having quick conversations with the people she came across, until Jill and Molly had found her and joined her on one of the couches almost as soon as they'd arrived.

"At least they're behaving better than my idiot brother," Rose grumbled. She'd been trying to ignore the way Hugo was carrying on. He wasn't breaking any rules, but he wasn't carrying himself with anything close to grace or respectability. Not that he normally did, but there was something unsettling about how little he seemed to care about how his actions affected others.

"His fellow Gryffindors seem impressed," said Molly, cringing a bit as they watched the group surrounding Hugo laugh and carry on uproariously. He'd been spending most of the evening showing off some new products from the joke shop that his dad had sent him, and Rose was having a difficult time not being frustrated with her father for enabling her brother's behavior. Not that he had any clue what was going on in his son's life at the moment, so she knew it was irrational. It was just becoming exhausting to have so many negative emotions towards her brother.

"There's not much that can be done," Rose said in resignation, looking away from the display of tomfoolery as she heard Anastasia Bennett let out a shriek of laughter. "Not unless he actually starts breaking rules."

"Can't you talk to him?" Molly asked Louis as he came over and joined them.

"I've tried," he said with a resigned sigh, sitting on the arm of the couch next to Jill. "He's more hurt than he wants to admit, and he messed up more than he's willing to fess up to as well."

"Did Caleb try talking to him too?" asked Jill. Louis nodded, but made no other comment, his silenced speaking for itself in showing how badly it must have gone. Jill gave him a sympathetic look, resting her hand on his knee comfortingly. Louis' face brightened up a bit at the gesture, and Rose had to wonder what exactly had been said between the two when they made up. She watched curiously as Louis' placed his hand on Jill's back before he began to rub it in a soothing gesture.

"We'll get it sorted," he said, glancing between the three girls. "Not doing so isn't really an option."

"You lot need to stop looking so mopey," Erin announced as she and Al came and joined them just as the music grew louder. Rose smiled and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet and towards the center of the room where a handful of other students had already started dancing.

It felt brilliant to let loose, and Rose allowed herself to be spun around by Erin and to laugh with her cousins and friends. It wasn't long before the majority of the students had joined in on the frivolity, and Rose soon found herself wrapped in the arms of her boyfriend.

"Aren't you supposed to be spending time with your housemates?" Rose asked above the noise of the music and the general ruckus that came with a party.

"And let the prettiest girl at the party dance by herself?" he said with an incredulous laugh. "No chance in hell."

Rose let out a delighted laugh as she flung her arms around his neck and he spun her around, lifting her feet off the ground.

"I love your laugh," she heard him say into her ear, his voice softer due to their close proximity. Rose gripped him tighter, continuing to hold him so that her cheek was pressed against his and she was looking over his shoulder.

"I love yours too," she responded, knowing full well she sounded ridiculously flirty as she whispered the words into his ear. She felt his hands grip her back and his jaw clenching against her cheek as he took a few deep breaths. And even though the music was still going at a fast pace and the people around them were keeping with the upbeat rhythm, they were barely swaying as they held each other tightly.

"Do you know what else I love?" she barely heard him whisper in her ear. Rose felt her breath catch in her throat, and she closed her eyes and breathed deeply a few times to steady herself.

"What?"

She heard him about to answer, but then his hands, which had taken to running up and down her back, stilled suddenly, and she knew something else had unfortunately grabbed his attention.

"What is it?" she asked, pulling away to look at him in concern. Scorpius' gaze was fixed behind her, and he tried to play it off as nothing as he shrugged and met her curious expression. But Rose wasn't fooled, and she instantly turned in his arms despite his protests.

She felt a mixture of embarrassment, anger, and disgust when her eyes landed on her younger brother, who was now giving all of his undivided attention to Anastasia Bennett. She was draped rather salaciously across his lap as they were wrapped in a rather heated embrace, snogging like their lives depended on it.

Rose's eyes immediately sought Lily, who would take this as an even further act of betrayal. It was obvious to just about everyone who knew Lily that she and her dormmate practically hated each other. There was no way she'd be understanding about this.

When Rose finally spotted Lily, her heart sank. She was walking away from Charlotte and Lucy, who seemed to be either trying to comfort her or get her to stay. As she turned to turn away her friends one last time, Rose saw the tears welling in her eyes when they couldn't help but glance in the direction of Hugo. And Rose's heart broke slightly at the sight of her cousin, who did her best to hold back a sob before she fled from the room.

* * *

 **A/N: Stupid Hugo, taking after his father. Next chapter picks up right here from Scorpius' POV and will be the last one! I definitely have sequels I want to do, especially since there are things I'm going to deliberately be leaving open ended. I'm working on planning all that out so hopefully you won't have too long to wait! Thanks as always for reviewing! Seriously, hearing from you keeps me going.**


	51. No matter what the future brings

Scorpius wanted to fix it. All of it. Yet he felt helpless to do anything to make it better.

"He's a prat and a hypocrite and an idiot, and I'm this close to cursing him," Rose ground out as she and Scorpius stepped away from the dancing to grab drinks and allow Rose to calm down a bit so she wouldn't do any harm to her brother.

"That wouldn't be the best way to end your time as Head Girl," said Scorpius, which earned him a pointed look from Rose as she grabbed a glass of butterbeer.

"I'll wait till we get home, then," she said, and Scorpius could tell she was reigning in a smile. Any levity she'd been able to find in the situation slipped away a moment later, and he knew she was thinking of the look on Lily's face as she left the common room. Lucy and Charlotte had stayed for only a few more minutes, exchanging some words with Molly and Jill before they followed after Lily. Scorpius was surprised that Caleb hadn't been seen. It was rare for him to not be by Lily's side.

"Hey, it's not your job to fix this," Scorpius reminded Rose, who'd heaved a frustrated sigh. "They're making their own choices, and they have to deal with the consequences. You said what you needed to the other night when this whole thing started, and it's their own bloody faults if they don't listen to your advice."

This seemed to placate her a bit, and she relaxed her tense posture as she chugged her butterbeer.

"You're right," she said, tossing her empty cup into the bin next to the table as Scorpius did the same. "Let's not let them ruin our last night at Hogwarts."

She grabbed his hand, smiling brightly at him as she led him back to the throng of dancers. Scorpius grinned back at her, pulling her to him as they began moving to the beat once again. A moment later, the music slowed, and the group of dancing students formed into couples and began to thin out a bit. Scorpius chuckled in appreciation as he pulled Rose close, one hand resting on her hip and his other grasping hers tightly.

"Finally," he said with a sigh. "I've been wanting a do over of this since the wedding," he explained when she looked at him curiously.

"That wasn't _so_ bad, was it?" she asked with a small smile.

"No," said Scorpius, "but I didn't exactly get to say and do everything I wanted to. I had all these great plans for our Christmas holiday before I made a mess of things."

It was a relief to Scorpius when Rose raised her eyebrows in question and her smile didn't leave her face. They were finally to the point where they could talk about everything that had happened the previous term without having to cringe or apologize. He had a feeling that their conversation in the library about the timing of things had something to do with that.

"Care to tell me what these plans involved?" Rose asked with a delighted glint in her eyes.

"Well…" he began slowly, drawing her closer so his arm went around her waist and her cheek rested against his chest. "I would have held you a bit closer. More like this."

Rose gave an appreciative hum in response, her hand running soothingly along his upper back as they swayed slightly and he rested his chin on her head.

"I wouldn't have been afraid to tell you how beautiful you looked," he continued in a soft voice. "And it would've taken everything in me to keep from kissing you right there in the middle of the dance floor."

He felt Rose sigh contentedly against him before she pulled back, looking up at him with unrestrained warmth in her brown eyes.

"Remember what we said about making every moment count?" she asked. Scorpius nodded, unable to take his eyes off her as they continued to sway slightly from side to side.

"Well," she continued, trailing her hand up his neck until her fingers brushed into his hair at the base of it, "we're about to start out on a whole slew of new adventures, what with leaving school and starting jobs and living on our own. I'm looking forward to all of that, but while we still have one last day here, I think that now is as good a moment as any to make up for lost opportunities. And it would be nice to not miss out on any more of those moments."

Scorpius grinned at her challenging smirk, knowing he was only seconds away from giving in. He knew people could describe the lightness he felt and the fluttering in his stomach as a rush of affection, but that didn't seem big enough to describe what he felt for Rose. The feelings he had for her had been a slow, steady build that he'd been able to see coming for years. He'd assumed that those feelings would someday end up building to what they were now, but it had happened so gradually that he hadn't always noticed the changes. At times, he'd allowed himself to lose sight of just how much she meant to him, taking for granted that he had someone so special in his life. Continuing to do so now was not an option.

"You're brilliant, you know that?" he said in a soft tone, dropping her hand so he could stroke her cheek. She smiled brightly at him, her now free hand joining her other one at the base of his neck.

"I have my moments," she said with a chuckle.

"You're supposed to tell me that I'm brilliant too," Scorpius said with an attempt at a pout, but Rose merely let out another giggle, pulling him closer so her nose brushed up against him.

"I don't think there are enough words to do you justice."

The sincerity and vulnerability in her words struck Scorpius, and he slowly closed the remaining space between them, savoring the feel of her lips on his. He broke the contact a moment later winding his arms around her waist as he held her tightly and basked in her presence, his eyes closing as he rested his forehead against hers.

He was going to do it. He was going to lay his heart on the line and tell her exactly how he felt. He felt sure that she felt the same, and even if she didn't, he knew he wanted to tell her anyway.

"Rose, I-"

"Scorpius, we have a problem."

He pulled away from Rose quickly at the sound of Molly's panicked words. She was standing next to them and wringing her hands nervously as her gaze frequently drifted in the direction of the entrance to the common room.

"What did they do this time?" Rose asked with a sigh, assuming her relatives were involved in the trouble. Scorpius, however, felt a pit growing in his stomach as dread began to fill him.

"It's not any of our lot," Molly said quickly. "Lucas Prince just showed up with Erin Nott, and they're not exactly empty handed."

Scorpius felt his arms slip from around Rose as he turned to face the direction Molly kept glancing in, his worst fears confirmed by the sight that met his eyes. Lucas Prince and Eric Nott were leading a group of a few other Slytherins in prying open crates of what was undoubtedly contraband beverages, and a slight cheer went up as others began to take note of the firewhiskey being passed around. The music had jumped to something more fast paced once again, and Scorpius let out a growl of frustration that was only heard by Rose and Molly.

"Fucking hell," he snarled, pulling his wand from his back pocket. "I should've known."

"Scorp, wait," said Rose, her hand gripping his wand arm so he looked down at her. "Think through what you're going to do for a moment before you just barge over there."

"Right," said Scorpius, taking a few deep breaths as he formed a plan. "Right. Molly? Go fetch Professor Simpson. He should be patrolling the third floor. Rose, grab Mandy, Eden, and Davies and start collecting bottles. We can at least try to control what we can."

Molly have a quick nod, her face set and determined as she turned and hurried out of the common room.

"You're sure about this?" Rose asked as Scorpius squared himself to approach Prince. He looked down at her, grateful that she was by his side.

"Yeah," he said with a reassuring smile, turning back to face her for a moment. He shoved his wand back in his pocket and took both of her hands in his, deciding that the mess he was about to fix could wait a moment longer. Especially for this.

"I'm sure of a lot of things, actually," he said with certainty, looking intently into her eyes as she focused entirely on him. "I'm sure of you," he continued strongly. "I'm sure I-"

A crash sounded from somewhere behind them, and Scorpius whipped his head around, realizing that things were escalating too quickly for him to put off intervening any longer.

With a groan of frustration, he turned back to face Rose. She was gaping at him, her hands clutching his tightly, and Scorpius wanted nothing more than to continue saying what he'd been prepared to tell her, but the commotion was growing louder behind him, so he planted a swift, searing kiss on her parted lips, pulling away quickly and dropping her hands.

"Go find Mandy and the rest, and help me clean up this mess," he said as he began to walk away, only waiting for Rose to nod in recognition of his words before he turned and stormed over towards the growing group of people around the crates of alcohol.

"Oi, Prince! Nott!" Scorpius hollered, pulling out his wand and waving it so the music abruptly shut off. There was a groan of disappointment and a few shouts of protests, but Scorpius ignored it as Prince and Nott both turned to face him, the group surrounding them clearing a path for Scorpius to get through.

"Pack up your shite and clear out," he said with finality, stopping in his tracks when he was a few meters away. Prince shoved his hands in his pockets, flicking his long, dark hair away from his face as he sneered at Scorpius.

"Not going to ruin the party again are you, Malfoy? You've been enough of a spoilsport this term, don't you think?"

Silence had begun to fall around the room as people took notice of what was happening. The only conversation that seemed to have continued was between Rose, the prefects, and the people they were trying to confiscate fire whiskey from.

"Anyone who's got a bottle of banned substance," Scorpius shouted, addressing the crowd rather than Prince, "I want it in this bin in the next sixty seconds."

With a flick of his wand, a decent sized bin appeared in front of Scorpius. Prince smirked at him as no one in the crowd moved, looking back and forth between the two Slytherins as they stared each other down.

"I told you to stay out of my way, didn't I?" Prince snarled. "No one's ever going to listen to you, Malfoy. They don't care what you say, and they sure as hell don't respect you."

There were a few more beats of silence as a few people glanced around uncomfortably, but then Rose was shoving her way through the crowd, Mandy Jordan, Eden Avery, and John Davies trailing behind her, each with at least one bottle of fire whiskey in their arms.

"Based on the size of the crates," said Rose, speaking nonchalantly as she placed three bottles unceremoniously into the bin, "this should be about half."

Scorpius watched, trying to keep any type of surprise off his face as Eden, Mandy, and John followed suit. He took a moment to meet Rose's gaze, and he couldn't help a half smile forming on his face when he took in her expression. It was full of determination, pride, and conviction, and he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she had a tremendous amount of faith in him, and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to do his best to prove that he was deserving of it.

"Anyone else ready to cough it up?" he asked the room at large, scanning the terrified, conflicted, and defiant faces. "It might be the last night of term, but Professor Simpson is on his way here, and I doubt those of you returning in September would get off easy. As far as you seventh years go," Scorpius continued, turning to glare at Prince once again, "I wouldn't be too sure of your ability to get away unscathed."

A few more seconds of silence passed, and then people began to move. Those who hadn't taken part in the rule breaking made way for those who still had bottles to move forward. Scorpius did his best to school his features into a harsh glare, wanting desperately to smirk in triumph as Prince's face paled. Bottles began to clang into the bin, and a few people gave him either verbal apologies or remorseful looks. Some still seemed a bit put out, but followed his instructions.

"Are there any more in the crates?" asked Rose, her arms crossed as she watched Prince expectantly. His scowl immediately snapped to her, and Scorpius saw desperation and humiliation mixing in his eyes, which was a dangerous combination.

"Stay the hell out of this you fucking bitch," he snarled at Rose, drawing quite a few gasps from the crowd. "You and your whole self-righteous, blood traitor family can go to hell for all I-"

At that moment, two shouts echoed around the room. One from Scorpius, and one from the newly arrived Professor Simpson.

"Prince!" the professor shouted, drowning out the sound of Scorpius' exclamation of outrage. "Shut your mouth before I shut it for you."

Silence fell around the room as Professor Simpson took them all in, a scowl on his face as he surveyed the damage. Molly was standing just behind him with a relieved look on her face, breathing heavily as she'd obviously done her job very quickly.

"Never," continued Simpson, taking slow steps closer to his student, "in all my time as a professor, have I heard a student speak that way to anyone, let alone their Head student. That along with everything else you've gotten up to this year makes me ashamed to claim you as a Slytherin."

If possible, Prince's face grew even whiter as the entire world he'd built for himself inside the walls of the school started to crumble. No matter what else Simpson had in store for him, these words were punishment enough. Scorpius almost felt bad for him, but he couldn't quite find it in himself to pity Prince as Simpson continued.

"You're coming with me," Simpson snarled at him, waving his wand so the crates and the bin full of alcohol disappeared. "Wait for me in the corridor. You too, Nott. Now."

Nott moved quickly, walking past Prince and out of the joint common room. Prince hesitated long enough for the former Auror to grab him by the hood of his jacket and drag him a few steps towards the door. He flung Prince from his grasp, and the Slytherin tripped forward a couple steps, not even looking back as he hurried the last few feet out of the room.

"Consider this a warning," said Simpson, his eyes taking in the crowd of stunned students, "for those of you who succumbed to temptation tonight. I won't be so lenient next time. Get back to your party."

A collective sigh of relief filled the room as a few nervous chuckles were heard and people began to break into stilted conversation.

"Malfoy? Weasley?" Simpson said in a quieter tone, gesturing for Rose and Scorpius to join him by the entrance to the common room.

"Miss Weasley told me it was just Prince and Nott who brought in the alcohol, is that correct?"

Rose and Scorpius nodded.

"Right, and you managed to confiscate everything before I showed up?"

They nodded again, and Scorpius was surprised to see a small smile appear on the hardened professor's face. "I have to say, I'm impressed. I've broken up a few parties over the years that students with authority have failed to corral, and I've never known students to respond so well to their Heads before. Nice work."

"Actually," Rose cut in before Scorpius could respond, her face beaming with pride, "it was all Scorpius, Professor. He's really earned their respect this year. It didn't take much to get them to listen to reason."

Scorpius knew his face was close to turning pink as Rose turned her proud smile towards him. He quickly tore his eyes from hers to meet the impressed gaze of his Head of House.

"Really?" Simpson asked, a hint of pride in his voice. "Well, I can't say I'm all that surprised. I recommended you for the position after all. You're the type of student I actually _want_ to claim as a Slytherin."

Scorpius felt himself welling up with pride at his Professor's words, but he knew it would continue to nag at him if he wasn't completely honest.

"Thanks, sir," he said sincerely, "but I feel that it's only right I tell you I was tipped off that Prince might pull something tonight, and I didn't exactly do anything to prevent it from happening."

Scorpius avoided glancing at Rose, afraid she'd be upset and disappointed that he'd kept this information from her. He kept his eyes on his Professor instead, and was blown away to see Simpson fully smile at him, a rare sight as far as Scorpius was concerned.

"You mean other than stopping things before they could go too far? Professors were patrolling the corridors and they failed to catch them, so you shouldn't be hard on yourself at all for this. You did a fine job."

Scorpius relaxed in relief, sighing and glancing at Rose, whose face he couldn't quite read.

"You have good instincts, Malfoy, so trust them," Simpson continued. "I know you're starting training soon, and speaking as a former Auror, I have a hunch you're going to make a fine one. If you ever need anything, I'm only an owl away, alright?"

Scorpius nodded, letting out a short laugh of disbelief as his professor stuck out his hand for him to shake.

"You two enjoy your evening," said Simpson, giving Rose a nod in acknowledgment before moving to walk away, pausing in his departure only to say, "and starting tomorrow, you can call me Jonah."

Scorpius' eyes widened in shock, and he only managed to get out a stilted, "Yes, sir," before their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor walked out the door.

"Blimey," Scorpius murmerd, still too stunned to say much of anything else. He snapped out of his daze when he heard Rose laughing in delight.

"I'm so beyond proud of you," she said when he looked at her, beaming so brightly that he was afraid her smile would split her face in two.

"Really?" he asked in relief. "I thought you'd be upset that I hadn't said anything to you."

She shook her head and shrugged. "Maybe partially, but Simpson is right. You handled it wonderfully anyway. And it would've just made me worried all evening if I'd known something like that was coming. Which, I assume, is the exact reason you didn't tell me."

Scorpius chuckled gratefully. "I guess we both know each other pretty well, then."

She smiled warmly at them, and Scorpius tried to shake himself out of the shock he still felt after hearing Simpson's words.

"This wasn't exactly how I expected the year to end, if I'm honest," Scorpius said disbelievingly. Rose shook her head, still smiling as she stepped up to him and wound her arms around his waist. Scorpius' hands immediately went to her face, brushing her hair behind her ears as the events of the evening played on repeat in his mind.

"You going to stop doubting yourself now?" Rose asked with an arched eyebrow. "It's all well and good to have a bit of humility, but I think enough people have shown faith in you now for you to have a bit more faith in yourself, don't you think?"

Scorpius smiled down at her, thankful once again that she'd stuck around through all the ups and downs the year had brought them.

"I think," he said slowly, leaning closer to her, "that I definitely don't deserve you."

Rose's eyes and nose scrunched up as she giggled. "Do I make you happy?"

"Thoroughly."

Rose's arms squeezed him just a bit tighter as she pushed herself onto her toes and placed a soft kiss on his lips, whispering quietly against them as she pulled away, "Then I beg to differ."

"Mate, you alright?" Al asked as he approached them, Erin right behind him. Scorpius gave a sigh of frustration at the interruption. Would he never get a moment with Rose that wasn't intruded upon?

He dropped his hands from Rose's face, placing them on her shoulders instead. "Does it look like I'm not alright?" Scorpius asked pointedly. Al rolled his eyes as Rose held in a chuckle.

"I was just checking."

Scorpius laughed as he pulled Rose into his side and turned to face their friends. "Thanks, mate," he said sincerely, glancing down at Rose one last time to see her beaming at him before he turned back to his best friend. "I'm perfect."

* * *

As she settled in next to the window in one of the familiar Hogwarts Express compartments, Rose couldn't help feeling wistful. It wasn't as if there was anything she regretted about her time at Hogwarts, and she knew she was ready to move on and head into the real world, but an ache had settled in her when she realized that they really wouldn't be coming back. Things would never be the same again.

Some things wouldn't change. She knew that. She'd still have her family and her friends. It wasn't like Hogwarts was actually going anywhere. It was her day-to-day life that was changing, and despite her sorrow at leaving wonderful things behind, she felt ready for that to happen.

Gratefulness was another very present emotion as she sat with her best friends on their last trip to Kings Cross. She was very aware of the fact that two members of her family in particular were keeping far away from each other, further deepening the divide that had grown between them. It made Rose realize how quickly your life could change, and how easy it was for the people you thought would always be there to suddenly be gone.

The rest of the party the following evening had gone smoothly, as far as rule breaking went. It wasn't long after Simpson left before things were in full swing again, and Rose was disgusted to see that Anastasia Bennett was still hanging all over her younger brother. It did give her a bit of satisfaction that Hugo seemed a bit less inclined to be spending time around the girl that morning. It had been hard to ignore his annoyed expression with her sitting close to his side at the Gryffindor table, and even harder to not notice her looking up and down the train for him just moments ago.

"Serves him right, behaving like a prat," Al grumbled.

"You snogged me when we weren't going out," Erin pointed out from her stretched out position, her feet propped up in Al's lap as she leaned with her back against the window.

"I'm not talking about that part," said Al with a roll of his eyes as he absentmindedly gripped Erin's socked feet with one hand, his other resting on her shins. "I'm talking about going out of his way to be a git to Lily, and using an innocent girl - no matter how obnoxious she is - to do it."

"I'm not sure how innocent she is," Scorpius said from his place next to Rose. "She never liked Lily. I bet she knew exactly what she was doing."

"Still," said Al, "she seems a bit more invested now, even if she wasn't before."

No matter how annoyed Rose was by Anastasia's role in everything, she saw Al's point. The girl probably knew full well how much Lily would hate her cousin and best friend snogging the one person she couldn't stand, but that didn't mean she was incapable of being hurt by Hugo. True, it probably gave Anastasia great pleasure to know she was getting to Lily, as she'd so often failed to do so in the past, but it still didn't excuse his role in the mess.

"You going to tell your parents?" Erin asked, reading Rose's pinched expression accurately.

"I don't know," she said with a sigh. "It's going to be obvious something's wrong when Lily and Hugo don't spend time together this summer. I can't imagine what any of our family get togethers are going to be like."

"We've been at odds sometimes during family gatherings," Al pointed out, most likely remembering the family Quidditch match the summer before.

"Yes, but never like this," said Rose. "I doubt they'll even look at each other except to glare. It's a good thing they're underage and won't have their wands all summer."

"Speaking of telling your parents things," said Erin, a curious lilt to her voice, "do they know you two are together?"

Rose froze in shock. With the timing of everything, she hadn't even written to either of her parents since she and Scorpius had gotten together. It was the same every year. She'd be so caught up in end of year exams that they never even expected to hear from her through all of May and into June. And with N.E.W.T.s this year, she'd gone even longer without writing. Rose wasn't sure she'd even written to them since Easter, and things were still so up in the air then that she wouldn't have said anything yet. How had she managed to completely forget to fill her parents in on such a very important development in her life?

"I sort of eluded to it," said Scorpius, glancing nervously at Rose before looking back at Erin. "It felt a bit odd to just say 'by the way, Rose and I are dating now,' so I just sort of made a passing comment about it."

"You're planning on telling them in person?" Al asked incredulously.

"Like you can talk," Erin chuckled. "You were practically forced to tell both of our dads that we're together. And I have to admit, I'm a bit excited to see your mother fuss over you a bit."

Her smirk quickly left her face as Al pulled on one of her toes. She let out a yelp and pulled her foot from his grasp, kicking him in the arm as he chuckled. Erin gave him a warning look before placing her foot in his lap once again.

"Your parents know, right?" Scorpius asked Rose, so unassumingly that she felt guilty. His calm look turned to one of concern as he took in her terrified expression.

"I actually don't think I've even written to them since Easter," she said slowly, the reality of the situation sinking in.

"You're kidding," said Erin, grinning in unsuppressed amusement at their predicament.

"Wait, so, they have no idea?" Scorpius asked in shock, turning in his seat a bit to look at Rose with wide eyes.

"Well, I talked to Mum over Christmas about everything," said Rose, resting what she hoped was a reassuring hand on his knee, "and it sort of came up that there was a bit more to our friendship. I doubt she'll be expecting this, though. I was rather pessimistic about the whole thing then."

Scorpius heaved a sigh and slouched back in his seat. "Well, I doubt it will go horribly."

"Of course it won't," said Erin confidently, and Rose was thankful for her friend's positive outlook. "Awkward as hell, maybe, but nothing much else."

This comment relieved some of the tension as they all shared a laugh, and the rest of the train ride passed quicker than Rose would have liked. They focused their conversation on lighthearted things, laughing and reminiscing about the wonderful moments they'd all shared at Hogwarts, as well as discussing some of the dreams and wishes they had for the future.

By the time they stepped off the train with trunks in tow, Rose fully let her anxiety about coming face-to-face with her parents and the Malfoys take hold. It was unsettling enough for Rose to reach out and tightly grip Scorpius' arm to steady herself. When he saw the slightly terrified look on her face, he stopped them in their tracks, allowing the crowds to continue moving around them.

"What if they aren't all okay with this?" she couldn't help blurting out. "I think my mum is, because we sort of talked about it, and your mum probably will be too, but what about our dads? I know they've basically put their differences aside, but what if this is different? What if they can't handle it?"

She'd rattled it all off quickly, worried that her concerns would upset him. Thankfully, he gave her a smile in understanding, gripping her hand in his as he looked down at her.

"As far as I'm concerned, whatever they might have to say about us isn't going to change anything," he said confidently. Rose felt a bit of her nerves melt away at his determination, but grew slightly concerned a moment later when a nervous expression crossed his face.

"What's wrong?" she asked, stepping closer to him and speaking in a hushed and slightly panicked whisper. Scorpius seemed to realize he'd made her nervous and relaxed, his hand gripping hers tightly for a moment as he seemed to gather his determination once again.

"Nothing's wrong," he assured her. "I've just been trying to tell you something, and I've failed miserably at it for the past week, but now seems as good a time as any."

Rose looked at him in confusion for a moment, and then he was speaking again, and she could hardly process the fact that he was actually saying the words that were issuing beautifully from his mouth.

"No matter how our parents react, it's not going to change the fact that I'm falling in love with you," he said, his tone quiet yet confident. "So no, I'm not worried about what's going to happen today, because I'm not giving up on you. And at the risk of sounding arrogant, I have a feeling you feel the same way about me. You haven't exactly given up on me yet, so I don't see that happening anytime soon either."

His gaze was locked on hers, that same confidence there even though he waited anxiously for her to respond. Rose didn't even pause to take in their surroundings before stepping into him and pulling his face towards hers so she could kiss him. She did her best to pour her gratitude, her delight, and her love into it before pulling away, but only slightly, staying close enough to him so all she had to do was whisper.

"I'm falling in love with you too."

His smile was bright enough to blind her, and Rose laughed in delight as he wound his arms around her and pulled her close, his face buried in her exuberant curls.

"This is new."

Rose's laughter stopped with a sharp intake of breath at the sound of her father's voice. She couldn't quite make out the attitude behind the words, and she braced herself for the worst as she pulled away from her boyfriend.

"Hi, Daddy," she said cheerfully, smiling brightly at her father. He was standing next to her mother, who seemed to be trying very hard not to beam at Rose. There were other family members scattered around, a few of them paying attention to what was happening between Rose and her parents, but she hardly noticed them. Her attention was solely focused on the stern gaze of her father.

"Mind telling me what's going on here?" he asked gruffly, his arms crossed as he kept his eyes on Scorpius.

"Ron, for goodness sake," said his wife with an amused chuckle, looking at her husband in exasperation. "You already know what's going on. There's no need to scare the poor boy."

"Yes there is, Hermione," he said with conviction, turning his gaze to his wife momentarily. "I told you I was fine with it and I am, but that doesn't mean I like seeing him snogging my daughter in public."

Hermione rolled her eyes as she lay a hand on Ron's still tightly crossed arms. "I understand, darling, but don't forget what we said about trusting our daughter. And Scorpius too."

"Wait, you already knew?" Rose asked, surprised out of her momentary fear by this news.

"Of course we did, dear," said her mother, smiling at Rose. "Did you think news like this wouldn't get back to us? With a family that doesn't know the meaning of privacy?"

"What I'd like to know," said Ron, his tone not quite as stern as it had been, but still challenging, "is why we heard about it from your uncle and not from the two of you?"

Rose gulped nervously, both of her parents now watching them expectantly.

"Which uncle?"

Neither of her parents responded, both of them hardening their gazes a bit instead at her attempt to put off answering their question.

"Well," she began nervously, "I've been so busy with N.E.W.T.s and everything, and it's not like I normally write to you during the last few weeks of school. It's only been going on since just after Easter. I honestly hadn't realized I hadn't written to you since then."

She glanced nervously at Scorpius, who smirked at her before looking at her parents.

"To be fair, I did mention it to my parents. I wasn't aware we were keeping things quiet."

Rose's jaw dropped in shock as he threw her under the bus, and she smacked him on the arm before she could stop herself.

"What?" he chuckled down at her. "You want me on their good side, right?"

"Oh, and you think they'll appreciate you not having my back?"

Scorpius grimaced. "You might have a point. Sorry, I was thinking honesty was a good fit for the current situation."

Rose let out an annoyed huff, turning to look back at her parents when she heard a chuckle, her eyes widening when she realized it had come from her father.

"Don't worry, Malfoy," said Ron with a slight smile. "Just treat her right and you won't have to worry about my bad side."

Even though he was smiling, there was a challenge in her father's eyes. And Rose felt a mixture of pride and exasperation at the exchange when Scorpius gave a nod, his gaze severe to convey how serious he took her father's warning.

"There you are!" said Astoria Malfoy in greeting as she appeared from the crowd and approached her son. "We found Al and he said you were with Rose."

She embraced her son before turning to Rose, a giddy smile on her face as she pulled her son's girlfriend into a tight hug.

"I've been waiting for this day for forever, and I'm so happy it's you," she said as she gripped Rose.

"Mum," Scorpius said with a groan as she released Rose, who laughed as both women ignored him.

"I'm happy it's me too," Rose said with a conspiratorial smirk, and Astoria let out a laugh of delight before hugging her again. By the time she released her and turned to greet Hermione, Draco was shaking his son's hand before pulling him into an embrace. Rose took the opportunity to approached her father, who was watching the pair appraisingly.

"Don't I get a hello?" she asked, her arms open as she stopped in front of him. His still tense stance relaxed as his eyes turned to his daughter, quickly pulling her into a tight hug and kissing the top of her head.

"You're not too upset, are you?" she couldn't help asking. She felt him take a deep breath and release a heavy sigh, still holding her tightly.

"No, I suppose not," he said, pulling back to look down at her, his hands on her shoulders. "It's just not easy to see you so grown up. You're still my little girl, you know?"

Rose gave him a warm smile, going up on her toes to kiss his cheek. "I know. And I definitely appreciate the fact that I can count on you to look after me, but I'm planning on counting on Scorpius to do that too. Is that alright?"

He gave her a slight smile and nodded. "Can't say it'll always be easy for me, but I do trust you, and he's a good bloke. Even if he is a Malfoy,"

"Dad," Rose said with a warning tone, but he was already apologizing.

"Sorry, force of habit," he said apologetically. "I'll work on breaking that one."

She smiled gratefully at him before moving over to greet her mother, who held her tightly and whispered how happy she was for her. Rose pulled away from her mother just in time to see her father shaking hands with her boyfriend, whose own father was standing close by and watching the exchange with satisfaction. Rose couldn't keep from beaming in delight.

Everything they'd been through that year, it had all been worth it. To be where they were now - together and happy and accepted by their families - she'd go through hell and back with him again to know they'd end up here. It might only be the start of something, but Rose had more faith than ever that it was the start of something that would last.

She greeted the rest of her family and friends before it was agreed upon that they'd all head to the Leaky Cauldron for dinner, as Ethan had shown up at the platform to meet his sister and assured them that his mother was making sure a feast was prepared for such an occasion.

They headed out from Kings Cross, Rose with her hand clasped in Scorpius' as they walked with Al and Erin, thankful that, even though they were the same people who'd boarded the train ten months ago, the year had changed them all for the better. And they were more than ready to take on whatever the next year might bring together.

* * *

 **A/N: Well, that's all for now! Thank you so much for all your feedback over the past year! Is has been a joy to write this story and share it with you. These kids have actually taught me a lot. My favorite thing about stories is the ability to see things through other people's eyes and to learn from them. Writing does the same. I appreciate you for going through all of that with me.**

 **I have begun basic plot outlining for the sequel, but nothing is written yet. One review asked me if there would be a time jump or if it would pick up where this left off. I have thought about doing a prologue of sorts set in the future, and then working up towards that with the story. Potentially past it as well. I think that will be the only reason for a time jump, otherwise it'll probably pick up within a few weeks of the end of this story.**

 **If there is anything specific you'd like to see in the sequel, let me know! I'm always looking for ideas and inspiration. Even if it's something as simple as a conversation between two specific people or someone getting a pet.**

 **I have more snapshots coming your way in the meantime! I posted a Molly and Ethan one last week and I have two more written. I'm very excited to dive into post-Hogwarts world, and I also want to write a story about those who will remain at Hogwarts.**

 **Thanks again, and happy reading and reviewing :)**


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